The Rally Of Johor has just ended and Yuya in a Skoda RS has won it. The final 6 stages of Leg 2 was run under what is considered the ideal rallying conditions in Malaysia. Cloudy skies and damp gravel surfaces provided excellent grip and no dust to choke up visibility. Driving the successful Skoda Fabia R5, Cusco Racing Yuya bags the 2018 edition of the International Rally of Johor. Teammate Mike Young finished second well over a minute behind with Yuya. Both Yuya and Mike Young was pleased with their performance and credit everyone for a wonderful weekend. It’s a meaningful victory for Cusco Racing as they continue to develop the Toyota Vitz. It’s the first time for the Toyota Vitz in Malaysia and valuable data was collected with the car adapting to the heat and humidity of the Rally. Cusco plan sell the AP4 kit to customers in the near future. Leg 2 re-starters PG Abhilash and Abdul Kaathir finished 3rd and 4th respectively. The APRC heads to Rally Hokkaido in September.
Indonesian Rachmat and his MRU motorsport prepared Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 dominated round 1 of the Malaysian Rally Championship with a 4-minit margin ahead of the 30 strong entries. It was an excellent result for Rachmats first international rally. He well prepared for the event with numerous testing sessions a month before the event. Satoru Ito came in second with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. Its Satoru’s finest result in the MRC since rallying here a few years ago. 3rd and 4th spot went to One Motorsport BDRT Hj Suhaimi and Roduwan Rashid. The two were plagued with minor car problems throughout the event. MRU motorsports Salehuddin rounded up the top 5.
There was fierce competition in the 2WD category, Indonesian Roby Agusman Harapan, Japanese Takeshi Azuma, Norazizi Zainal Abidin and Abdul Ghaffar Alias finished in the top 10 separated only 1-minit among them. They are among the contenders for the 2WD in 2018. It is expected to be an interesting event this year with increased no of competitors with many drivers switching to 4WD machines and talented circuit drivers making the switch to rallying.
The next round of the MRC heads north to Perak in September. Based in the town of Sri Manjung, the stages in Perak is a world difference as compare to Johor with rough road surfaces, tight and technical corners.
