|
Rally Hokkaido, the fifth round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, runs this weekend and with only 8 points separating the top two drivers in the Championship means that the 2014 title is still up for grabs.
The rally is based in Obihiro on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido with tight and technical stages running on narrow forest tracks. At this time of year they are often very slippery and muddy with rain fall making them even more treacherous. Add to this the long grass and bushes that often line the route hiding drainage ditches and rocks, it is an event where the pace notes have to be right. Current Championship leader Jan Kopecky (CZE), who last year took the FIA European Rally Championship title, only managed to collect a handful of day points on the previous round in Malaysia after losing a wheel due to suspension damage allowing his team-mate Gaurav Gill to close the gap in the Championship. Kopecky knows that Japan will be difficult with pace notes playing a key role “If you can make good pace notes, like we did in Malaysia, it is possible to make up the difference.” MRF team-mate Gaurav Gill is chasing hard and believes that this weekend will be the decide if he is to maintain his fight for the Championship title “It will be either make it or break it.” going on to say “The strategy is going to be absolutely flat out from the word go.” Another leading contender is New Zealander Michael Young who is looking to add to his 2014 titles, having already secured the Asia-Pacific Junior Cup, currently leading the 2 wheel drive category and second in the Production Cup. Commenting from the service park in Obihiro, Young said “It is a bit more about the championship and getting points now. Obviously winning the production cup would be nice to win this year to make it three championships in one season, so now that we’ve secured Junior Cup and two-wheel-drive is almost secure, that’s definitely what we’re aiming for,” There are a total of twenty five runners in the APRC category of the rally which gets underway on Friday with a ceremonial start in Obihiro and the 1-kilometre Satsunai River super special stage. On Saturday, the longest day of the rally, there are ten special stages giving 129.78-kilometres and Sunday seven special stages with 93.52-kilometres of stages, a total of 223.20-kilometres over the three days. The rally finishes on Sunday late afternoon with a third running of the Satsunai River super special and podium ceremony. |
