Crocker wins Canberra leg

Australian Dean Herridge finishes second followed by Scott Pedder

CANBERRA: Cody Crocker (co-driver Ben Atkinson) of Motor Image Rally Team won the Rally of Canberra, Asia Pacific Rally Championship 2008 (APRC), with a time of 2:23:31 seconds after 18 Special Stages divided over two days in the Australian outbacks. He was 2 minutes and 92 seconds faster than Dean Herridge (co-driver Chris Murphy) of Cusco Racing who came in second at 2:26:23seconds. The third position on the podium was taken by Herridge’s Cusco Racing teammate Hiroshi Yanagisawa (co-driver Yoshimasa Nakahara).

Crowd favourite Crocker, driving the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, was 55 seconds faster over the nine stages held on Day Two than the nine on the previous day. By the mid-day service he had a formidable lead and only a disaster could have stopped the Aussie from winning the title.

The pleasant sunshine and the kangaroos disappeared on Sunday, in what seemed like an anticipation of the gruelling day of rallying. There was a dark cloud cover over Canberra and chilly breeze was blowing over the city. The dust too seemed to have multiplied since Saturday. But the Aussie, all too familiar with the conditions, didn’t slip up even once and seemed the most comfortable on the tracks.

However, the gloom and chilly conditions seemed to have affected Team MRF Tyres’ driver Scott Pedder (co-driver Glen Weston), driving the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, as the Australian had to pull out after the Special Stage 13. His rear differential was holed during the opening stage, the Special Stage 10. Pedder held on till the service break and was third on the table, 3 minutes and 23.9 seconds behind Crocker, but eventually had to pull out.

Crocker, meanwhile, didn’t start as well as he did on Saturday. But he achieved his goal of getting bonus points after winning Day Two and the rally outright. He handled the rough terrain expertly to win his fifth Rally of Canberra. The Victorian from Melbourne surpassed the records of legends - New Zealand’s Possum Bourne and Ross Dunkerton of Western Australia - who have both won the Rally of Canberra four times each. With the win he gets back in to the reckoning for the championship as the APRC heads to New Zealand next month.

Interestingly, it was Katsu Taguchi of Team MRF Tyres, Crocker’s closest rival in the championship, who was faster than the Australian in six of the nine Special Stages on Day Two. But since the Japanese had pulled out mid-race on Saturday due to some electrical problem, his efforts counted for little. Taguchi (1:11:19 seconds) finished Day Two just one second behind Crocker (1:11:18seconds).

Going in to the service break, Crocker enjoyed an advantage of 1 min 41.4 seconds over his closest rival fellow Australian Dean Herridge, also in a Subaru Impreza WRX STi, whereas Pedder was third.