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 The sudden rush of entries, particularly two high profile new international entries in the Malaysian Rally Championship (MRC) failed to change the status quo, at least as far as the third round of the series in Kuantan on the 28th and 29th of June proved.
Defending national champion Karamjit Singh and Co-Driver Jagdev Singh cruised to second straight victory and consolidated their lead in the championship, fired up on board their Mitsubishi Evolution 8.
Closest challengers to the GSR-Pennzoil Racing Team top dogs were the Perodua M5 Racing Team's Viva 4WD Turbo pilots Lim Leong Onn and co-driver Kamarul Anuar Mohd Razzali, who were more then eight minutes behind at the end of the 14 special stages. Brothers and 2005 champions Gunaseelan and Jayaseelan Rajoo on board a Mitsubishi Evolution 9 made it a memorable outing for the GSR-Pennzoil Team with a third place finish to step up the chase in the team championship.
Karamjit and Jagdev had entered that round with mixed feelings, not knowing what to expect from the unknown propositions of newcomers in Indian champions Arjun Rao and Musa Sheriff, who were piloting a Mitsubishi Evolution 8, prepared by Karamjit Motorsports.
Also in the picture was New Zealand youngster Mark Tapper and co-driver Jeff Judd on board a Subaru Impreza making their debut. Both the Indians and New Zealanders, who were in Malaysia to get used to the surroundings in preparation for the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) round which Malaysia is hosting in Johor on October 11th and 12th, failed to finish the rally.
Arjun and Tapper are in the running for the Pirelli Star Driver Search which Malaysia's APRC round includes. This programme offers a fully paid scholarship by the FIA for the drivers to compete in one of the World Championships classes.
Both pairs had a lot to learn from the more experienced Karamjit, the FIA World Production Car Rally champion in 2002.
But there were some surprises in the form of the Lim and Kamarul pairing managing a well-deserved second place in a far inferior Perodua Viva, which faced competition in the form of powerful Mitsubishi Evolutions and Subaru Imprezas.
Privateer Abdul Ghaffar Alias and co-driver Wan Rafidi Wahiddudin did a great job on board their Proton Satria 1.3 by producing a sixth place finish overall and as the clubman class winner.
At the front from the start to finish, however, Karamjit had no problems, despite what seemed to be some tricky conditions in the Felda plantations near Kuantan.
“The track was a combination of fast and slow sections and they can catch drivers off-guard. The track is especially tricky in the newly graded section and as the first car we had to be careful,” Karamjit said.
He explained that the newly graded sections were extra slippery because the freshly exposed earth is Loose and it turns to mud more easily when it rains.
His navigator, Jagdev said he had to add a few cautions to his notes to account for the damp track after it rained early Sunday morning.
“We had a comfortable lead and the track was slippery so my job was to remind Karamjit that he does not have to push as hard as usual,” he said.
Karamjit leads the overall drivers championship with 28 points, 10 ahead of second placed Lim, while Gunaseelan is a further six points adrift.
In the team championship, it is a two-way battle between the Perodua M5 Racing Team and GSR-Pennzoil as both are separated by just nine points - Perodua with 82 points and GSR-Pennzoil with 73.
The series continues with Round Four in Perlis on the 3rd and 4th of August. |
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