APRC CHINA LONGYOU RALLY 2009 – DAY ONE RESULTS – CROCKER LEADS

The second part on Leg 1 of the 2009 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship and Guanghe-Xinhu Scenery Garden Cup China Rally Longyou 2009 is held today. After nine stages, Australia ’s Cody Crocker of the Motor Image Racing Team, at the wheels of Subaru led all other drivers in two hours four minutes and 40.7 seconds. The best Chinese driver was Li Wei of the Subaru Rally Team who ranked 8th overall.

After the super special stage a day earlier, official stage race kicked off today with the day’s temperature back to 12 degrees Centigrade. Sun came out after days of rains. The nine stages totaling 121.61 kilometers were held at Changshengqiao, Mashukou and Dajie, repeating three times. Though there’s no rain today, the roads were still muddy as they were in the mountain areas with less sunshine.

Enjoying a 0.6-second lead after the super sprint a day earlier, Crocker was the first to hit the road. The Australian put up a steady performance winning five of the nine stages, holding a massive lead of one minute and 25 seconds over second-placed Britain ’s David Higgins of Soueast-Motor Wan Yu Rally Team in a Mitsubishi EVO9.

“I was very happy with my performance today,” said Crocker. “My advantage is a great thing for tomorrow’s race, because we don’t have to take any risks. On the gravel track, we did not make any mistakes today. We were pretty steady the whole day.”

While the Japanese driver Katsuhiko Taguchi of MRF Tyres, Crocker’s strong FIA Asia Cup title contender, pulled out at SS9 due to mechanical problem.

Higgins of Soueast-Motor Wan Yu Rally Team and defending champion Dean Herridge of the Subaru Rally Team’s was involved in an intense battle. Herridge’s change of tyres in the afternoon after the road became drier paid dividends as the Australian won back six seconds in the day’s last stage. Higgins and Herridge were second and third overall after Saturday’s competition. Standing at fourth ,fifth and sixth were Proton R3 Malaysia’s Alister McRae of Britain, Shanghai FCACA Rally’s Jari Ketomaa and Motor Image Racing Team’s Emma Gilmour

Finland’s Jari Ketomaa of Shanghai FCACA Rally Team, in a Subaru, suffered flat tyre, after six stages. Another Finnish driver Jussi Valimaki of Hongyun Honghe Rally Team, in a Mitsubishi EVO9, won the curtain raiser but had a computer problem at the eighth stage on Saturday which caused the engine stop and cost him eight minutes. Tony Green of New Zealand , driving for the Guangxi Speed One Rally Team in a Mitsubishi EVO9, was the most unfortunate, suffering flat tyre to slip off the road and then a mechanical failure.

There were mixed fortunes for the Chinese teams in the Group N competition. Li Wei of the Subaru Rally Team put up a normal show on Saturday unaffected by mistakes in the super sprint a day earlier. After his competitors failing to deliver, Li kept steady to stand at 8th place overall and the best among the Chinese. The Guizhou Bailing Rally Team suffered double unhappiness on Saturday. Liu Caodong, in a Mitsubishi EVO9, had to withdrew after skidded off the road in the sixth stage, and its Finnish driver Juha Salo also withdrew because of a turbo failure.

The Guizhou team said the two will still take part in Sunday’s race and will for sure win stage points for the team. Guizhou Team’s Wei Hongjie completed Saturday’s races and was the second best among the Chinese racers. Yongyun Honghe Rally Team’s Xu Jun, in a Mitsubishi EVO9, raced on despite complaint for a fracture in his right hand which made him unable to use the hand brake. But Xu displayed his potentials and was third best Chinese driver. The fourth best Chinese was Han Han of the Shanghai FCACA Rally Team in a Subaru, despite a flat tyre in the second stage costing him some time.

Only 37 cars out of 79 finished today’s nine stages. Longyou rally show its toughness enough on Saturday.

Tomorrow, there will be the last six special stages, totaling 99.09 kilometers at San Menyuan and Hengshan. All the prizes will be decided after the completion of the competition.

Longyou Rally 2009 Day 1 Results

1. Cody Crocker/Ben Atkinson (AUS) Subaru Impreza WRX STI N14 2:04.40,7
2. David Higgins/Ieuan Thomas (GB) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +1.25,0
3. Dean Herridge/Chris Murphy (AUS) Subaru Impreza WRX STI N14 +2.05,2
4. Alister McRae/Bill Hayes (GB/AUS) Proton Satria Neo S2000 +3.01,3
5. Jari Ketomaa/Miika Teiskonen (FIN) Subaru Impreza WRX STI N14 +5.15,6
6. Emma Gilmour/Claire Mole (NZ/GB) Subaru Impreza WRX STI N14 +5.22,4
7. Rifat Sungkar/Scott Beckwith (RI/AUS) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +7.28,2
8. Li Wei/Guo Xin (RC) Subaru Impreza WRX STI N14 +8.53,8
9. Wei Hongje/Huang Shaojun (RC) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +9.48,1
10. Jussi Välimäki/Marko Sallinen (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +10.51,5