APRC 2006 - Crocker takes maximum points in Hokkaido

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Crocker takes maximum points in Hokkaido
Story by Brian Young and photos Hiroshi Seiki/WRP
10JUL06


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Cody Crocker & Ben Atkinson​

Australian driver Cody Crocker drove brillantly to take the maximum points at Rally Hokkaido, Japan, and build his lead in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). Driving a Subaru Impreza WRX run by Les Walkden Rallying, Crocker and co-driver Ben Atkinson finished one minute 16.4 seconds clear of championship rival, Hiroshi Yanagisawa in the Cusco Subaru, followed by Katsu Taguchi in the first of the Mitsubishi's a further 1 minute and 5 seconds back.

The Rally of Hokkaido is based in the city of Obihiro, with competition held in the beautiful forests and hills nearby. The event was held in cool summer conditions, with the 230 kilometres of competition roads dry and dusty, but in excellent condition. The drivers found the roads quite rough on the 2nd passage through and this required they adapt their driving to suit the tricky conditions.

Outright honours for the Japanese event went to local Subaru driver, Toshi Arai, who finished one minute 33 seconds clear of countryman Takuma Kamada, also in an Impreza WRX STI, with Crocker, driving for Les Walkden Rallying third just a further 0.4 seconds behind. But neither Arai or Kamada are entered in the Asia Pacific series and were on the road 20 minutes after Crocker, a major advantage on the morning stages when the Australian, in start position number one, was left to sweep the roads for those that followed.

In the APRC points race Crocker earned the maximum 16 points to move his total to 48, having won every day and every event contested in three APRC rounds this season. He is now 18 clear of his nearest rival, Katsuhiko Taguchi from Japan. Crocker's win also puts Subaru back in the lead of the manufacturers championship with Subaru on 48 points and Mitsubishi on 42.

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Cody Crocker​

Crocker was delighted to maintain his outstanding 2006 record on the difficult Hokkaido roads. "I'm absolutely rapted with the result," Crocker said. "It was a really exhausting event, really tough because of the temperatures and the road conditions. The first time we went over the stages this morning we were sweeping inches of gravel off the road, and the second time through was incredibly rough. But the ruts were easy compared to the gravel. We managed to take around two seconds a kilometre off our times when we repeated the stage in the afternoon. We stayed out of trouble all weekend, which really is the key. One puncture and you ruin any chance of a top result."

For Hiroshi Yanagisawa his 2nd place in APRC gets him back into 4th on the points table (19 points). Yanagisawa drove a controlled rally not quite on the pace of Crocker, but enough to keep ahead of the MRF Mitsubishi's. "We are very happy with our result, roads were often rough and some big rocks, so we decided today no more risks, 2nd place is OK for us" said Yanagisawa at the finish.

While the MRF Mitsubishi's were a little disappointed to finish 3rd and 4th, local Mitsubishi star Katsuhiko Taguchi was already looking at the next events, "The car was very good and ran faultlessly, especially as these were brand new cars. We still have some way to go, to get the perfect set-up - at the moment only about 90% performance, next event maybe 93-94%. I think the next round of Asia-Pacific in Malaysia will be better for the car and for myself I have plenty of experience from the Malaysian championship and hope we can win."

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Eli Evans​

For Taguchi's team-mate Jarkko Miettinen from Finland this was an event to re-build his championship hopes and on the second day of the event, as his confidence returned Miettinen's pace quickened and to prove that, he set the fastest time on SS14 and collected a bonus point for finishing 3rd fastest on day 2. "A little disappointed as we are here to win and get maximum points, but overall it was good to finish, collect 6 points and today was a good driving day for us - we drove less aggressively, more smooth and the times begun to get better from there".

Young Australian driver Eli Evans, also driving for Les Walkden Rallying, finished seventh outright and fifth of the ARPC cars, an outstanding performance in his debut in Japan. He is now in fifth place on the points table on 17.

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Subhan Aksa​

Subhan Aksa from Indonesia finished 6th in APRC after an eventful rally. On the 1st day he was pushed off the road and down a bank by another competitor, while driving on a liason section. After being towed out the young Indonesian driver was unfortunately 1-minute over lateness, but was re-instated in the event that night by the stewards. Aksa was the final victor in a three way battle between himself and New Zealand drivers Brian Green and Dermott Malley. The three drives were only ever seperated by 20 seconds for most of the event, with Aksa finally finishing 16 seconds in front of Green. Malley unfortunately paid the price and crashed out in the final stages. Fan Fan from China picked up the final point for this round having a good run in his new Wan Yu Rally Team Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9.

The Asia Pacific Rally teams now move to Malaysia for the next round of the APRC on August 18-20. Malaysia is well known for its heat and humidity - and sudden tropical downpours that can instantly turn the fast rubber plantation roads into muddy and extremely slippery jungle tracks.

Final Results - Rally Hokkaido, Sunday July 9, 2006 (Provisional)
1 T Arai (J), T Sircombe (NZ), Subaru Impreza WRX STI, 2:25:19.2
2 T Kamada (J), H Ichino (J), Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +1:33.5
3 *C Crocker (Aus), B Atkinson (Aus), Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +1:33.9
4 *H Yanagisawa (J), T Misaizu (J), Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +2:50.3
5 *K Taguchi (J), M Stacey (Aus), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +3:56.0
6 *J Miettinen (Fin), L Malley (Fin), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +4:04.3
7 *E Evans (Aus), M McAdam (Aus), Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +6:44.8
* = Asia-Pacific Rally Championship competitor

Asia Pacific Championship points after Rally Hokkaido (Event 4 of 7)
1 C Crocker (Australia), Subaru, 48
2 K Taguchi (Japan), Mitsubishi, 30
3 R Sungkar (Indonesia), Mitsubishi, 27
4 H Yangisawa, (Japan), Subaru 19
5 E Evans, (Australia), Subaru 17
6 D Malley (New Zealand) Mitsubishi 12
7. Fan Fan (China) Mitsubishi 12
8. Subhan Aksa (Indonesia) Mitsubishi 7
9. J Miettinen (Finland) Mitsubishi 6
10 B Green (New Zealand) Mitsubishi 3

MORE NEWS: http://www.power-pictures.com/aprc-latest.asp

PHOTOS: http://www.linear-photographs.com/aprc2006/2006-index.html

Brian Young​

APRC.TV​

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[Kookaburra]

Here are some video clips from the APRC round down in Johor :

Cusco Subaru STi v9 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VITfHcBdeg
Subaru STi v9 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyHylQtreEY
Mitsubishi Evo9 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRKuQEoo1Rg
Mitsubishi Evo : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3JmUykhEWo