Victory for Crocker at Whangarei, New Zealand

Winning at a total time of 2hrs 46mins and 56.9 seconds, he maintained his speed and lead position throughout the 120km stretch.

Battling through the equally-challenging road conditions as on Day One, the top seed who was first on the road, with co-driver Ben Atkinson, led all the way driving over the six stages on roads around Paparoa and Whangarei.

They managed to hold off a charging Katsuhiro Taguchi, who finished second, to claim victory and the maximum 16 points. The result keeps Crocker at the top of the APRC points’ table and will hold him in good stead for a record fourth APRC title.

Said Crocker, “It’s been a fantastic day and we’ll certainly keep on the attack, although I must say, that today, was certainly no easier than Day One. We made a few changes to the setup of the car and that improved our speed.”

Fellow MIRT drivers, Emma Gilmour and co-driver Rhianon Smyth helped the MIRT maintain its lead, when they managed to beat rival, Taguchi for the narrowest possible margin today, just 0.1 secs, to clinch 2 bonus points for the APRC.

Said Gilmour, “We had another eight stages with over 100km of driving on some of the best gravel roads in the world! We really enjoyed driving the car this weekend. I am glad we had a great result for another tough rally and I’m looking forward to the next.”

“I’m really pleased with the teamwork between the new drivers. The new rally car has also performed well to contribute to today’s good result. Cody has done well to maintain his lead at the top of the APRC table and the girls, too, have put on an impressive performance. I am happy with the team and am looking forward to more progress in the APRC, ” said Mr. Glenn Tan, Team Principal, Motor Image Racing Team.

The Asia Pacific Rally Championship continues on the island of Hokkaido in Japan on 11-12 July, and then moves on to Malaysia in August, Indonesia in October and China in November.

The two Subaru teams, sponsored by Motor Image Group (MIG), are fronted by defending champion Cody Crocker from Australia, and female driver Emma Gilmour from New Zealand.

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Credits: JRC