The Hindu : Warren (Darryl) wins APRC Group N title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 01, 2002

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Warren (Darryl) wins APRC Group N title

By Sanjay Rajan

Stuart Warren (left) and co-driver Darryl Judd of Team MRF, winners of the APRC Group N title at Rotorua, New Zealand on Sunday.

ROTORUA (New Zealand) June 30. Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible dream. But for Team MRF Tyres' Stuart Warren (co-driver Darryl Judd), in a Mitsubishi Lancer

Evo7, winning an Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) round in Group N was something that was in the offing, especially after his fifth-placed overall and third-placed Group N finish in the earlier APRC 2002 round, the second of the six-round championship, in New Caledonia last month.

Warren, born in New Zealand and settled in Australia, had a 40-odd seconds overnight lead over his APRC contender Reece Jones (Jeff Judd), driving a Mitsubishi Evo6, and that, in the end, made the difference. Warren (Darryl) won the APRC Group N title on the concluding day of the three-leg Parker Enzed Rally of Rotorua, here, on Sunday. He was also second overall among APRC drivers.

Warren, signed up by MRF after the season's opening round, the Rally of Canberra, was, indeed, the overnight APRC-registered Group N leader, but Reece, a New Zealander and a regular here, whittled the difference down to barely 14 seconds in the final analysis.

Malaysian Karamjit Singh (Allen Oh), driving a Proton Pert in Group A, won the APRC overall title while New Zealander Bruce Herbert (Rob Ryan) dominated the Rally for the third day in succession, winning the prestigious Rotorua event for the fourth year on the trot.

Warren, 36, and Darryl have been partners in the Australian championship for two years now. While the former has been rallying for more than 18 years, Darryl is an experienced navigator whose best showing came in the European championships in 1995 where he finished runner-up.

``I knew it would be close. I concentrated on maintaining nice, clean lines. The day's first two

stages (stage 12 and 13) were a bit difficult, for the terrain varied. It was light and slippery. The

specially-designed MRF tyres helped. We clipped through stages 15 and 16 and kept it easy in the final (17th) stage,'' said Warren, who is a mechanic with Perth-based Race Torque, which maintains Team MRF Tyres' cars.

The final leg was run over 181.99 kilometres, of which 63.98 were special stages on gravel, at times through flowing roads.

Warren won 16 points from this rally in the APRC Group N and is second with 24 behind Italian Nico Caldarola (42 points) after three rounds and fifth in the APRC overall with nine points. Nico didn't have a good round here.

The other Team MRF Tyres' entry and the only Indian in the championship, Naren Kumar (D. Ram), completed the third leg. But as he had to retire midway through leg two on Saturday, he doesn't figure in the final list.

Karamjit finished third overall (Asia Pacific and New Zealand Rally championship combined) behind Herbert and another Kiwi Geof Argyle (Steve Smith) while finishing first in APRC Group A and overall, which saw him emerge the APRC leader after three rounds with 35 points.

Karamjit, the reigning APRC champion, said he had problems with his clutch right from the day's second stage. ''It was slipping and I lost time as I couldn't speed up.''

Team MRF Tyres will give the next round, the Rally of Hokkaido (Japan, Sept. 13-15) the miss, and compete in the final two rounds, in China (Oct. 19-21) and Thailand (Nov. 29-Dec. 1).

Team MRF manager Mr. Antony Rodricks was pleased with Warren's performance. He said, ''It's a win for our tyres in the international arena. Stu is doing very well in his debut year with us.''

The final standings (Rally of Rotorua): 1. Bruce Herbert (Rob Ryan), NZ, Subaru Impreza STI, A-8, 3:00:25.2; 2. Geof Argyle (Steve Smith), NZ, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6.5, A-8, 3:02:53.1; 3. Karamjit Singh (Allen Oh), Malaysia, Petronas EON Racing Team, Proton Pert, A-8, 3:04:31.6; 4. Lewis Scott (Jane Black), NZ, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5, A-8, 3:07:11.6; 5. Glenn Smith (Colin Smith), NZ, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5, A-8, 3:08:00.3.

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