Malaysian Rally Championship Round 3 at Terengganu – Day 1 : Karamjit Storms to the Front
Karamjit Singh of GSR Pennzoil Racing Team takes the early initiatives at Lake Kenyir, storming through the mud, dirt and torrential rain to lead day 1 of Malaysian Rally Championship (MRC) round 3.
“The Flying Sikh’ showcased tremendous control with his Mitsubishi Evo VIII on the slippery condition, leaving his championship rivals behind with a healthy lead heading into day 2 and finale of the weekend.
Japan’s Katsu Taguchi pushed hard to catch his teammate but to no avail as Karamjit was clearly on form, winning all 5 stages contested throughout the day with the overall time of 56 minutes and 53.8 seconds.
Taguchi trailed Karamjit in 2nd place, 5 minutes adrift while Lohitt Urs of India a further 7 minutes behind in 3rd spot.
Lohitt Urs driving through a river crossing.
Championship leader Rafiq Udhaya in red and white Subaru Impreza had a slow start after he made wrong tyre choice during the morning session.
But the MRU Motorsports’s principal driver redeem himself with some fast times in the second half of the day, consolidated 4th position.
Francis Keng (MRU Motorsports) in action piloting his Proton Satria 1.6.
Meanwhile another MRU Motorsports representative Siraj Abdullah tucked in behind Rafiq in 5th place, driving well in his Proton Satria Neo.
Local hero Wan Mohd Hafiz (center) will try to get the best of results in front of his home crowd.
FA Racing’s Faidzal Alang leading his teammate Wan Mohd Hafiz.
6 stages were scheduled but only the first 5 were able to stage as the heavy rain made it hard for competitors to negotiate the course, with some of them involved in accidents and suffered gear box problems as a results of slippery and washout muddy track.
With the weather and track condition getting worse the organizer rightly canceled stage 8 of the competition.
Jamaluddin Tukimin and Rozita Tukimin.
Katsu Taguchi, winner of APRC round 1 in Kota Tinggi, Johor.
General Classification After Day 1 :
1. Karamjit Singh / Douglas Pickering GSR Pennzoil Racing Team
2. Katsu Taguchi / Jagdev Singh GSR Pennzoil Racing Team
3. Lohitt Urs / Manohar Menon
4. Muhammad Rafiq Udhaya / Sean F. Gregory MRU Motorsports
5. Muhammad Siraj Abdullah / Abi Ridzuan MRU Motorsports
6. Takeshi Azuma / Masato Sakane MRU Motorsports
7. Mike Ariokiasamy Ratnam / Maruthi Ariokiasamy MRU Motorsports
8. Jamaluddin Tukimin / Rozita Tukimin
9. Wan Mohd Hafiz Wan Mohd / Syed Mohd Jefri Tuan Ahmad FA Racing
10. Faidzal Alang / Hazwan Fauzi GSR Pennzoil Racing Team / FA Racing
11. Dinie Nazmi / Azmeer Yusri
12. Rizal Wahid / Shahrol Zainal
13. Harjeet Singh / Izwan Abdullah
14. Francis Lai Yew Guan / Ong Boon Keat MRU Motorsports
15. Azizul Jamin / Rohasreen Abu Hassan
16. Wan Mohd Khaidzir / Mohd Razif
17. Raymon Tan / Jason Yim
18. P. Nandakumar / Suresh Parkash Sharma GSR Pennzoil Racing Team
19. Sanjay Takle / Musa Sheriff
Day 2 report is on the way…
Photo / Editorial : Nazim Idris
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