Media Release
9 May 2008
Printable version (Word 1.6mB)
Japanese ace continues to set the pace in the 2008 Asia Pacific championship
Japanese ace Katsu Taguchi has continued to set the pace in the 2008 Asia Pacific championship by posting the fastest time of the A-P competitors today during the shakedown run for this weekend's Rally of Canberra.
Taguchi, with vastly experienced Australian Mark Stacey as his co-driver, was quickest over the Bluetts Forest sprint with a time of 2min02sec in the MRF Lancer Evolution. The pair scored a nan declared their Canberra preparation was as good as it could possibly be.convincing win in the muddy opening round of the championship in New Caledonia last month and yesterday MRF team manager Lane Hee
"We haven't had a hiccup all week," Heenan said. "It's all systems go for us."
Although the 3.1km timed stage at Bluetts became dusty and rough as the traffic flow increased, Taguchi posted his quickest time on his fourth and final run over the stage.
The team is remaining tightlipped on its tyre choices for tomorrow's opening leg of the rally but Heenan indicated MRF team-mates Taguchi and Australian Scott Pedder are likely to start on different rubber.
"Katsu generally likes a harder tyre and after our testing earlier this week, Scott believes the roads and weather will be cool enough in the morning to run a softer compound," Heenan said.
The MRF team had entered three cars for this event but 26-year-old Indian driver Gaurav Gill is late scratching on doctor's advice following a motorcycle accident. Gill is reported to be recuperating well and is expected to rejoin the team for the Rally of New Zealand next month
Second fastest yesterday and just 1 second in arrears of Taguchi's Lancer was reigning A-P champion Cody Crocker, in the Motor Image Subaru WRX.
Crocker and co-driver Ben Atkinson were in no hurry to fire up their Impreza today, preferring to sit and watch the times of their rivals. Nonetheless, after a "sighting lap" of 2m06s, they raced out of the blocks with a second run of 2min03 and for almost an hour today were the quickest of the pack.
Equal third quickest today with shared times of 2min04sec were Pedder and Australia's Dean Herridge, the latter competing in an Impreza WRX STi for the Cusco Racing Team. Cusco Racing is based in Gunma, Japan, and is the motorsport arm of the suspension and after-market parts company Carrosser.
Fourth quickest was Japan's Hiroshi Yanagisawa (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) with 2min05sec on his third run over the stages, while British champion Guy Wilks (Honda) and Australia's Michael Guest (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) were only a whisker behind with identical times of 2min06sec.
Wilks, who with co-driver Phil Pugh is competing in his first rally aboard a new Italian-built Honda Civic Type R, spent two long days testing in the Canberra forest earlier this week to find his preferred suspension set-up, and is happy that the hard work has paid off.
"Although we are in a two-wheel drive car against the four-wheel drives, in those sections of the rally where the road flows and there's not many sharp corners, the Honda is just as quick as them," Wilks said.
"Ideally I'd like to push Cody [Crocker] and Katsu [Taguchi] as hard as I can. There are places where we will always lose out to them because we don't have as much grip but I think people will be pleasantly surprised at how fast this car is."
