JOHOR BARU: It was a fruitful day for team Proton R3 in the first leg of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) as drivers Chris Atkinson and Alister McRae made it a 1-3 finish yesterday. The APRC which began its first round with the Malaysian Rally on Thursday, saw Pertamina Cusco Racing driver Rifat Sungkar of Indonesia taking the lead after the Special Stage 1.
However, Atkinson and co-driver Stephane Prevot managed to put in a strong challenge yesterday to take a marginal lead of 1:40.4s. He clocked a total time of 2’6:29.4 after seven Special Stages at the Tai Tak plantation in Kota Tinggi yesterday. In second place was Gaurav Gill of Team MRF in 2’8:09.8 while McRae took the third spot in 2’15:56.7. Atkinson’s lead, however, came with a price. His Satria Neo S2000 suffered handbrake and radiator problems.
“The car had problems with overheating after the first stage yesterday (Thursday) and I lost my handbrake after the third stage today (yesterday). “It was not so bad but we were slower in the tight corners without the handbrake. Hopefully everything will be fixed for tomorrow,” said Atkinson. McRae’s car was also not spared from succumbing to overheating problems as he finished third. “It was a difficult day for us ... we suffered from overheating early today and I suspect the head gasket is burnt. “It’s very tough for me because I had to hold back from going all out. The second place is just too far for me to catch up and I hope to maintain the third spot for championship points,” said McRae.
Meanwhile, in the Malaysian Rally category, defending champion Mohd Rafiq Udhaya battled through a broken gearbox to take the lead. He is currently leading the pack after clocking 2’26:04.3. “We had a lot of problems after the Special Stage 3 ... the suspension gave some problem and then the gearbox was out. “We swapped the racing transmission with a standard one and we managed to get through the day,” said Rafiq.
-thestar online.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.