Motor Image Rally Team takes title at Rally of Whangarei

Crocker, who seems unstoppable in his quest to win the third APRC title in succession, now sits in first place of the championship points table after garnering maximum points with a winning time of 2 hours 38 minutes and 18 seconds. The victory at the Rally of Whangarei makes it 13 out of a total of 14 APRC rally wins for Crocker.

Together with his Australian co-driver, Ben Atkinson, Crocker overcame road conditions that ranged from dry gravel to wet surfaces along the 667.66km route. The MIRT driver outperformed other competitors, such as Japan’s Katsu Taguchi and fellow Australian Scott Pedder, to collect a maximum of 16 points from the triumph at the Rally of Whangarei. Crocker now leads the championship with 32 points - two points ahead of closest rival Taguchi of MRF Tyres and six ahead of Dean Herridge of Cusco Racing.

Crocker’s MIRT team-mate, Rifat Sungkar struggled with a slight handling problem on Day 1 but managed to recover today with the help of the MIRT crew of mechanics who were on-site to solve his car set-up problems. Working together with his Australian co-driver, Bill Hayes, the young Indonesian driver clocked a time of 2 hours 46 minutes and 5.4 seconds, earning himself a sixth overall placing in the rally.

Held yearly in Whangarei in New Zealand, the Rally of Whangarei is the third round of the seven-leg APRC. For the past nine years, the New Zealand leg of the APRC had been held in Rotorua. 2008 marks the 2nd year that this leg has been held in Whangarei.

The Rally of Whangarei comprises a total of 667.66km over 15 stages of gravel-covered road surfaces, through harsh and wintry weather conditions. A total of 32 cars from over six countries competed in this year’s Rally of Whangarei, with a total of eight APRC-registered rally cars starting out on Day 2 of this year’s Rally. But out of this eight, only seven managed to cross the finish line at Waipu Caves 2.

Credits: