APRC Drivers Brian Green, Karamjit Singh and Rafiq Udhaya were in action last weekend in Thailand and Malaysia.
Green and co-driver Fleur Pederson won the Rally of Thailand and the The Kings Cup after leading from stage 1 in their MRU Motorsport Subaru Impreza STi.
Green has competed in the Kings Cup event since its inception in 2002, had several 2nd and 3rds and even lead the event but never actually crossed the finish-line in first place.
“To finally win The Kings Cup after being so close so many times is an amazing feeling and a fantastic way to cap off our season” , said co-driver Fleur Pederson at the finish.
Green also finished 2nd in the 2011 New Caledonian championship with Pederson winning the co-driver award.
Across the border and south-east of Kuala Lumpur was the final round of the Malaysia Rally Championship based in Jempol, Negeri Sembilan.
Karamjit Singh and his Indian co-driver Viviek Ponnusamy won the event and Singh secured his 12th Malaysian Rally Championship.
“It has been a long hard season. I am happy that I have picked up title No 12 but it would not have been possible without the help of my teamates support. It was a team effort and I am looking forward to title No 13 next year. I believe I still have a few more years left of rallying in me,” said the 48-year old Karamjit.
It was the perfect end to the season for Singh after winning the two-wheel drive title for Proton in the 2011 Asia Pacific Rally Championship.
Last year’s champion Rafiq Udhaya finished second but wasn’t too disappointed “I lost to a better driver. Simple as that. Karamjit is an extraordinary rally driver and to lose to him is no shame at all. Hopefully next year we will try to win the crown again.” said Rafiq at the finish. “As team owner I’m happy for Brian and Fleur too, winning the Thailand Kings Cup with an MRU car and team”.
Behind the main battle, the Juniors category was hard fought and starred two drivers hoping to compete in the 2012 APRC Junior Cup.
Malaysian Kenneth Koh won the Junior and P10 class (1600cc) driving a Proton Satria, while kiwi Michael Young in a similar car was 3rd Junior and winner of the P9 (1300cc) category.
Both drivers are hoping to compete in the Group N Proton Satria’s in next years APRC Junior series with events in New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and Japan.
