Chris Atkinson moved into the lead of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship with victory on the Rallye de Nouvelle Caledonie at the weekend after several front runners fell by the wayside.
Atkinson was in complete control of the rally from the minute early leader Rifat Sungkar beached his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX and lost considerable time as co-driver Scott Beckwith pushed the car back onto the road.
With the pressure eased, the New Zealander enjoyed a near incident-free run in his works Proton Satria Neo S2000 to finish 1:38 clear of his nearest challenger at the finish and jump to the top of the championship standings.
“Everything went according to plan,” Atkinson said. “We built a lead and when we did have a small problem, we could afford to drop a few seconds to preserve the car. My co-driver Stephan (Prevot) did an awesome job all weekend and the result is great for the team.”
Sungkar battled back to finish second overall, having dropped to sixth following his problem on Saturday morning.
Alister McRae didn’t enjoy as trouble free a run as his Proton team-mate Arkinson, the Socttish driver suffering with an overheating engine that meant he continually had to fill the radiator with water, but still managed to finish third and complete the podium.
Several drivers went out while well placed including erstwhile championship leader Guarav Gill who went off at high speed on stage 11 and badly damaged his MRF Mitsubishi. He was able to return to the action on Sunday, however, and picked up some bonus points as the day’s fastest driver.
Privateer Nathan Quinn was running strongly in second place in his Mitsubishi Lancer until he clipped a rock on the second morning of the event, ripping off a wheel and forcing the Australian’s instant retirement.
Japanese driver Katsu Taguchi was a victim of the same stage when he landed heavily following a huge jump and smashed his Mitsubishi’s oil cooler. Subhan Aksa (gearbox) and local man Jean-Louis Leyraud (crash) were others to go out while well placed.
FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship results – Round 3, Rallye de Nouvelle Caledonie
(APRC entrants)
1 Chris Atkinson / Stephane Prevot, Proton Motorsports, Proton Satria Neo S2000, 3:01:18
2 Rifat Sungkar / Scott Beckwith, Pertamina Cusco Racing, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +1:38
3 Alister McRae / Bill Hayes, Proton Motorsports, Proton Satria Neo S2000, +7:35
4 Brian Green / Fleur Pedersen, Brian Green Motorsport, Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo IX, +14:00
5 Fan Fan / Junwei Fang, Souest Motor Kumho Team, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, +25:03
6 Hao Yuan / Hongyu Pan, Souest Motor Kumho Team, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, +26:34
7 Karamjit Singh / Jason Farmer, Driver, Proton Satria Neo, +31:29
8 Gunaseelan Rajoo / Jagdev Singh, Pennzoil GSR Racing Team, Proton Satria Neo, +1:14:46
Retirements
Guarav Gill / Glen MacNeall, Team MRF, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
Katsuhiko Taguchi / Mark Stacey, Team MRF, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
Nathan Quinn / David Green, Driver, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
Daniel Palau / Thierry Song, Driver, Subaru Impreza WRC
Jean-Louis Leyraud / Cyril Brinon, Driver, Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Subhan Aksa / Hade Mboi, Bosowa Rally Team, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
Jari Ketomaa / Jarkko Kalliolepo, Souest Motor Kumho Team, Mitsubishi Evo X
Championship Standings (after 3 rounds)
1 Chris Atkinson, 70pts
2 Gaurav Gill, 60
3 Alister McRae, 60
4 Rifat Sungkar, 45
5 Mark Higgins, 39
6 Brian Green, 24
7 Fan Fan, 23
8 Katsu Taguchi, 22
9 Alain Dalstein, 14
10 Akira Bamba, 10
Pacific Cup
1 Rifat Sungkar, 52
2 Chris Atkinson, 39
3 Mark Higgins, 37
4 Subhan Aksa, 22
5 Alain Dalstein, 18
Next round: 15-17 July, International Rally of Whangarei, New Zealand
Watch the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship on Motors TV.
Andy Wilkinson
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