For the 10th conservative year the palm oils estates around Kota Tinggi, Johor will come alive with roar of high speed rally cars. Malaysia will be hosting the 4th round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship which will be held on the 15th to the 17th of August. Malaysia has always been a favourite venue for the APRC competitors as it is known to be the toughest event in the championship.
The rally stages around Kota Tinggi is arguably the best palm oil rally stages in country. Fast and flowing roads all the way through with countless junctions, hidden crest, spiced up with high humidity is a real test for the competitors and over the years we have seen the latest specification rally cars and the world’s best drivers blasting through the estates.
13 teams from 8 countries and 6 different makes of cars will start the rally at the Angsana Super Special on Friday. Heading the list is current APRC championship leader and 2013 FIA European Rally Champion, Jan Kopecky from the Czech Republic. Together with 2013 APRC Champion Gaurav Gill, the pair will be behind the S2000 Skoda Fabia of Team MRF. These two drivers will be the highlight of the event as they are both very fast drivers and finishing a rally second isn’t an option! Another S2000 Skoda Fabia, driven by Chinese privateer Jun Xu makes his 1st appearance in the APRC. He is hoping to to make the very best of drives on his first visit to Johor. Championship regulars Michael Young and Sanjey Tackle with the Cusco team will make full use of their local knowledge. Japanese drivers Kohie Izuno, Mitsuhiro Kunisawa, Tomohide Hasegawa and Yuya Sumihawa makes up the entry list this year.
New entrants to the event are Australian Tom Wilde andRenault Clio and Mark in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10. Dinesh Deheragoda of Sri Lanka will also be making his Malaysian rally appearance in another Mitsubishi Lance Evo 10. Experienced Indonesian Suban Aksar is making his return to the Championship in a Renault Clio.
The 3 day event will cover 220km of competitive highspeed rallying stages divided into 14 special stages around the Tai Tuck estates around Kota Tinggi. The stages over the past week has been bone dry making the stages very interesting and dusty. Do not to miss the action to see the best drivers from all over the world tearing through our local terrain.