Motor Image Racing Team Seals APRC Win with 1, 2 Finish
|
|
|
Newly crowned APRC champion Cody Crocker of Singapore-based Motor Image Rally Team (MIRT) cemented his dominance of the rally scene by finishing 1st overall for the final leg of the
Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), held in Longyou, some 400km southwest of Shanghai, China. |
|
|
Teammate Emma Gilmour did her part to give MIRT the perfect finish to the 2009 APRC season,
coming in 2nd in the China Rally and scoring enough points to move her into second place in
the drivers' championship. |
|
|
The China Rally is the 7th leg of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship which concludes
the 2009 season of APRC. Crocker had already taken outright honours for the series, and
secured the Manufacturer's Champion title for Subaru at the previous leg of the APRC in
Indonesia last month. |
|
|
Crocker however produced yet another superb drive to win the Rally of China last weekend,
winning MIRT the Asia Cup for a second year to top the rest of the accolades locked in at
the Indonesian Rally. Crocker said. "We came here with the APRC title already won but with
important business remaining - we really wanted to win the Asia Cup as well. Knowing we
achieved what we aimed to is a fantastic way to end the season." |
|
|
This APRC championship title is the 3rd that Crocker has won with MIRT, and carves Crocker's
name in the history books as the first driver with four APRC championship titles under his belt. |
|
|
It has been a remarkable season for Crocker. Driving the Motor Image Impreza WRX STI, the Victorian
finished on top of the APRC points' table with 94, just two shy of the perfect score of 96. He and
co-driver, Ben Atkinson, took the honours in all six events of the Championship MIRT participated in -
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and, now, China. |
|
|
However with intermittent rain and temperatures hovering around the 10 Degree Celsius mark, racing
through the narrow gravel roads of the bamboo forests proved to be as tough as ever for Crocker, as
it did with the rest of the competitors. |
|
|
"There're some big rocks on the inside of corners to catch you out, and if you so much as got one
wheel width off the road, you're in trouble. It's very, very narrow - very treacherous. This event
traditionally has a very high rate of attrition, sometimes only two finishes out of the whole APRC
field, and that says a lot," Crocker said. |
|
|
Despite the challenging rally, Crocker was in control through the weekend, setting the fastest time
on both days, finishing with a time of 3hr 40min 47.6sec, well clear of his teammate, New Zealander
Emma Gilmour's time of 3hr 58min 45.6sec. Rival Katsu Taguchi (Japan) of MRF Tyres failed to finish
the opening day due to suspension problems. |
|
|
"It wasn't easy. The course took a lot of prisoners, but our Imprezas continued to perform faultlessly," Crocker commented. |
|
|
He added, on fellow teammate Gilmour's success, "Emma has been a remarkable teammate and she really
doesn't yet realise what an achievement it is. These events are tough to finish let alone win, but
she stood beside me on the podium in every single rally we've entered this year." |
|
|
Gilmour's finish was all the more commendable as on the 2nd stage of Day 2 her wrist was broken when
the steering wheel snapped back entering one of the many hairpins on the event. |
|
|
"Thankfully it was my right-hand, not the left, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to change gear.
The team doctor strapped it up and fortunately we had enough of lead that I could take it a bit easier
through the final stages," Emma said. |
|
|
The results left Crocker 41 points clear of Gilmour (53) in the series, with the hapless Taguchi
slipping back to third, after failing to add to his total of tally of 47 points in China. |
|
|
Mr. Glenn Tan, Team Principal of Motor Image Racing Team said, "It has been an absolutely fantastic
season for us, and we could not ask for a better result. Cody and Ben have won every rally this season,
a 3rd APRC Driver's & Co-Driver's title, Motor Image has won the Manufacturer's Title for the 3rd year,
and of course, Emma's 2nd Position Overall on her first outing in APRC together with our new generation
Made in Singapore Motor Image Impreza STi, to make our mark in history." |
|
|
He added, "The past three years has been such a fantastic ride for us and we couldn't have gotten here
without our fantastic team, Philip, Kevin, Aaron, Simon, the list goes on. This is the best result we
could ever achieve and 3 years ago when we started with nothing, I never expected to be able to reach
this point, but we did. We set out to prove our Made in Singapore Motor Image cars could win big, and
we have achieved what we set out to accomplish. Once again, thank you to the fantastic team, drivers
and co-drivers for making MIRT accomplish its dream!" |
| |
|
| |
| Provisional Final Classification China Rally 2009 - APRC |
|
|
Pos |
Car No |
Entrant |
Driver / Co-driver |
NAT |
Vehicle |
GRP/CLS |
Total Time |
1 |
1 |
Motor Image
Racing Team |
Cody CROCKER
Ben ATKINSON |
AUS
AUS |
SUBARU
Impreza WRX STI |
N4 |
3:40:47.6 |
2 |
4 |
Motor Image
Racing Team |
Emma GILMOUR
Claire MOLE |
NZ
GB |
SUBARU
Impreza WRX STI |
N4 |
3:58:45.6 |
|
|
| |
| 2009 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship Dates & Locations |
|
|
| Rally de Nouvelle Caledonie |
France |
10th – 12th April |
| Rally Queensland |
Australia |
9th – 10th May |
| Rally of Whangarei |
New Zealand |
5th – 7th June |
| Rally Hokkaido |
Japan |
11th – 12th July |
| Malaysian Rally |
Malaysia |
15th – 16th August |
| Rally Indonesia |
Indonesia |
3rd – 4th October |
| China Rally |
China |
14th – 15th November |
|
|
* Please note that the APRC 2009 will feature seven events on the calendar but participating teams only need to register and race in a
minimum of six events. Motor Image Racing Team has nominated to participate in all events except the Rally de Nouvelle Caledonie in 2009. |
|
| The Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) |
|
|
|
The APRC is organised by the FIA and consists of seven legs of rallying under
gruelling conditions. Taking place in some of the most diverse regions of the
world, the APRC attracts drivers from across the world. Each rallying leg has
it own unique characteristics, adding to the allure of rallying. From the dust
and dirt of Australia, to the wintery conditions of New Zealand, to the steaming
jungles of Malaysia, APRC offers participants challenges in both topography and climate. |
|
|
The APRC is primarily a Group N championship in that the favoured cars are the current
world leaders in Group N rally technology. The championship is subject to regulations
laid down by the FIA. Vehicle eligibility is open to Production cars (Group N) and
Touring cars (Group A5, A6, A7). Each class has a driver and co-driver award along with
an overall manufacturer trophy. In 2006, Subaru were the recipients of the manufacturers'
trophy, while Cody Crocker won the driver's title. |
|
|
Group N cars are built from base cars with a limited range of modifications allowed. The
Group N cars by Subaru use the same engines as the Subaru WRX STI road cars. The production
of the Group N rally cars in Singapore began in November 2006 with the support from Subaru
Tecnica International (STI) and Possum Bourne Motor Sports (PBMS). The Group N cars, which
are built and distributed from the state-of-the-art Subaru Hub in Toa Payoh, are production
vehicles fitted with safety equipment in compliance with the governing Federation International
de l'Automobile's (FIA) guidelines and regulations. |
|
|
For more information on APRC, please refer to www.fiaaprc.com. |
| |
| About Motor Image Racing Team |
|
|
|
The Motor Image Racing Team (MIRT) is part of Singapore-based Motor Image Enterprises that
was conceived in 2007 after a project with Subaru Tecnica International to build Group N Cars.
The MIRT has been making waves in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with two
manufacturers' titles under its belt and Cody Crocker winning two consecutive driver's
championships for the team. For more information, please visit www.miracingteam.com. |
| |
|
|
Motor Image is the sole distributor of Subaru cars in Singapore. The company started
operations in 1986 and over the years expanded its presence to manage the Subaru
distributorships in Southern China, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The Motor Image Group is a subsidiary of
Hong Kong-listed Tan Chong International Limited (TCIL), which engages in automotive,
commercial, manufacturing, trading and property investment businesses across Asia. |
| |
|
|
Based in Japan, Subaru is the automobile brand produced by Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI),
a comprehensive, multifaceted transport equipment manufacturer that develops a wide range
of innovative products such as automobiles, aerospace, bus-manufacturing, house-prefabricating,
industrial products and ecology systems. Founded in 1955 Subaru has since grown to become one
of the world's leading carmakers. In 1972, Subaru became the first in the world to market an
All-Wheel Drive (AWD) passenger car and pioneered the market in Japan for high-performance
station wagons by combining a turbo-charged engine with an AWD system. Subaru has improved
and refined its AWD system, to create a symmetrical AWD system that enables optimal driving
pleasure and safety. |
|
|
Subaru (in Japanese) refers to a group of stars which is the name of a star cluster
in the Taurus constellation. The name was adopted in the 1950's, as its official logo when
the company produced its first passenger prototype, the P-1. |
|
|
Subaru is well-known by motoring organizations worldwide for its engineering, design,
functionality, safety and reliability. The Subaru range of vehicles includes the Forester,
Legacy, Outback, Impreza, Impreza WRX, Impreza WRX STI, Exiga and Tribeca. |
