Motor Image Rally Team are champions!

Cody Crocker of Singapore-based Motor Image Rally Team (MIRT) has won the 2008 Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Malaysia Rally and clinched his 3rd consecutive APRC title. This is the 2nd consecutive APRC title that Crocker has won with MIRT, and also the 2nd Malaysian Rally he has won driving a Singapore-assembled Group N Rally car.

Together with his co-driver, Ben Atkinson, the defending APRC champion sealed the deal with a winning time of 2 hour, 55 minutes and 24 seconds. He was 3 minutes and 28 seconds of 2nd placed Hiroshi Yanagisawa of Cusco Racing. Rifat Sungkar, his MIRT team-mate, came in 3rd placing with a time of 3 hours, 5 mins and 53 seconds, earning himself a place on the much coveted podium.

A total of six APRC registered rally cars had started out on Day 2 of the 2008 Malaysian Rally in hot and humid weather. Crocker's closest rival, Katsuhiro Taguchi of MRF Tyres had re-started on Day 2 after crashing out on Day 1 but failed to catch up with the eventual APRC champion. With Taguchi missing out on the China Rally and today's triumph in Malaysia, Crocker had tallied enough points to snare the APRC title from the Mitsubishi driver.

"The Malaysian Rally is always one of the toughest rallies in the APRC and it takes a whole lot of concentration just to make it to the finish line. I am absolutely ecstatic to win today and what makes it even sweeter is clinching the Championship title with one more rally to go. Much credit must be given to my co-driver Ben and the entire MIRT crew for their expertise and assistance!", said Crocker.



Sungkar had ended his previous Malaysian Rally on a dismal note. This year, however, he made amendments by clinching a podium finish – a first for the young Indonesian driver with MIRT. Commenting on his efforts at the 2008 Malaysian Rally, Sungkar said, "I've always known the Malaysian Rally to be very tough and challenging, and this weekend was no exception. Both weather and road conditions were really hard to contend with but I managed to push through with tactical driving methods with Bill's help. It feels fabulous to clinch a 3rd placing, and I am honoured to be standing up there on the podium with Cody! With one last rally of the 2008 APRC season to go, I hope to add on to my final points tally with a performance on par with today's."



Crocker had some congratulatory words for his MIRT team-mate. He said, "Kudos to Rifat and the great performance he put out this weekend! It's absolutely fantastic that he is in 3rd place, making it a podium finish for our team!"

Mr. Glenn Tan, Group Chief Executive of Motor Image Enterprises had this to say about his triumphant rally team: "What a fantastic end to the Malaysian Rally! I'd like to congratulate both Cody and Rifat on the great performance over the past two days. It has been a season of ups and downs for the team, and to clinch the Championship with one more rally to go is simply awesome! We've got our first podium finish for both drivers this season and the first time against the MRF Tyres team. I am very proud of what we've achieved! The victory is a testament of the sheer capability of our cars and the expertise of our team. Well done, everyone!"

The Malaysian Rally is the sixth round of the seven-leg FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship 2008. The Malaysian Rally comprises of a total of 226.74km of competitive driving over 14 stages of dust-covered road surfaces. Aside from tight and narrow roads that meander through acres of palm oil and rubber plantations, all rally drivers competing in the Malaysian Rally have to also bear with the stifling heat and humidity of the equatorial climate. Both Crocker and Sungkar will go on to compete in the final leg of the 2008 APRC at Longyou, China in November. Apart from the drivers, the MIRT consists of mechanics and engineers from Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.

Credits: JRC