Johor
Baru, Malaysia, August 16, 2015: Pontus Tidemand and co-driver Emil Axelsson led a 1-2 finish
for Team MRF as the Swedes swept to their third win of the season by claiming
the title in the Malaysian Rally, the fourth round of the FIA Asia Pacific
Rally Championship, here on Sunday.
The 24-year old
Tidemand, driving the Skoda Fabia S2000, finished one minute, 56.5 seconds
ahead of team-mate, India’s Gaurav Gill (co-driver Glenn Macneall).
Gill comfortably won
the first round of Asia Cup, sparing over 19 minutes to Fan Fan (Junwei Fang)
from China who drove the Mitsubishi Evo EX for South-East Motor team.
Tidemand, making his
APRC debut, had triumphed in Australia and New Zealand, and the win on
Sunday took his tally to 147 points while 33-year old Delhi-based Gill,
winner of the first round in New Caledonia, moved to 104.
With just two more
rounds of APRC to be run in Japan (Sept 18-20) and China (Oct 30-Nov 1) and a
maximum of 78 points on offer, Tidemand has taken a stranglehold on the
championship leaving Gill a mathematical chance of claiming the title he had
won in 2013.
Leading by 01:19.9
overnight, Tidemand kept the throttle down on Sunday when six more
Stages were run over much shorter distance than on Saturday as the Swede was
quickest in five loops while Gill, driving in heavy rains, took the last Stage
of the day.
“I had a good day
today and absolutely no problems with the car. I was new to these conditions
and it was very challenging. But I am happy that I survived and brought the car
home safely.
“We have two more
rounds in Japan and China, and I looking forward to it. Like I said, all this
is new to me, but I want to do well,” said Tidemand.
Press release
An obviously
disappointed Gill, winner here last year, had problems with the rear
differential of his Skoda Fabia S2000 besides overheating and loss of grip.
“The rear differential
stopped working during the first loop and there was no grip. So, I couldn’t
drive normally. Then we had heavy rains during the second loop, but we were
quicker in the last Stage.
“Overall, it was the
worst weekend of my life with all the problems we had due to grass getting into
the radiator grill and all that. I now look forward to the remaining two
rounds,” said Gill who did not participate in the conventional champagne
ceremony as a mark of respect for Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India
president Bharath Raj who passed away in Bengaluru on Saturday.
MRF team boss Lane
Heenan said: “It was very tough on the cars, but we are happy that both
Tidemand and Gill finished. I think it was after very long time that both MRF
cars finished here in Malaysia.”
Asia-Pacific
Rally Championship: Pontus Tidemand /
Emil Axelsson (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia S2000) 1 (03hrs, 05mins, 11.5secs); Gaurav
Gill / Glenn Macneall (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia S2000) 2 (03:07:08.0).
Asia
Cup (Round-1): Gaurav Gill / Glenn
Macneall (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia S2000) 1 (03:07:08.0); Fan Fan / Junwei Fang
(South-East Motor, Evo EX) 2 (03:26:58.8); Genki Takeuchi / Naoki Kase (Cusco
Racing, Subaru Impreza) 3 (03:32:28.1).
Press release
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