With unprecedented interest in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship this year, the event organisers have been advised to plan for twice the number of teams and competitors.

Team coordinator Murray Brown said “I ‘m expecting anything from 10 to 15 competitors per round this year. We’re planning fuel and shipping for three teams from Malaysia including the manufacturer supported Protons, plus two privateer teams and one of those is planning to run four cars. Then there’s Japan with the CUSCO squad of 3-4 cars including their Juniors, but we’ve also got enquires from several privateers and the possibility of a big Subaru team. There is also a strong possibility we’ll have a large Chinese team this year too. The Pacific Cup is looking like it will be well supported with at least two New Caledonia drivers, two Australians, two Kiwis and an Indonesian. There are of course lots of ‘ifs and buts’ before everything is confirmed but with the interest and enquires we’re getting, we’ve advised the organisers to double the size of the service parks and utilities”.