Chris Atkinson extends lead in Asia Pacific Rally Championship

RSL Staff

– July 20, 2012Posted in: APRC, News

Gold Coaster Chris Atkinson has extended his lead in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship with a solid second place finish at the Malaysian Rally over the weekend. Atkinson now leads the series by a massive 45 points, meaning a top-three finish on the next round in Japan will hand the Brakes Direct-supported Skoda driver his first ever international rallying title.

“It’s great to extend our lead in the championship and pick up another strong result for the MRF Skoda team,” commented Atkinson

“If it wasn’t for a burst pipe on Saturday I’m sure we would have been challenging for the lead yesterday afternoon.

“But the car stayed strong despite the mishap which got us home second and more importantly boosted our chances of securing this year’s championship.”

Atkinson’s 2012 APRC record is impressive with two wins and two second place results from the four events contested this year.

After claiming the event’s opening two stage wins, disaster struck on SS3 Tai Tak – Pipeline when a burst pipe saw Atkinson lose all the coolant out of his Fabia S2000.

Nursing his car through the remaining stages in an effort to keep it from over-heating, the 31-year-old lost over 25minutes to the leaders but, importantly, brought the car home and still in points’ contention.

On a mission to reclaim time Atko won five of Sunday’s seven stages to pick up seven bonus points for winning the leg and extend his championship lead over Scotsman Alastair McRae, who was the eventual Malaysian Rally winner.

Day 1 conditions were wet, with heavy rain making the plantation stages extremely slippery. However, the rain subsided and crews were treated to sunshine and extremely hot and humid conditions on the forest roads for the second and final day.