The Hindu : Second victory for Warren-Judd pair

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 09, 2002

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Second victory for Warren-Judd pair

By Sanjay Rajan

OBIHIRO (Japan) SEPT. 8. The substance of a work of art is inseparable from its form; its truth and its beauty are two and yet, mysteriously, one.

New Zealander Possum Bourne's driving style is distinct, but nevertheless tough to describe or explain. The manner he took the final corner in the flying finish in the Rally of Hokkaido, the fourth round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) which concluded here on Sunday, is ample testimony to his guts and amazing skills.

Bourne (co-driver Mark Stacey) of Subaru Team-Australia was the overnight leader and held a comfortable lead on time over Argentina's Marcos Ligato (co-driver Ruben Garcia, in a Mitsubishi Evo6), who was second, as he headed for the final stage.

Clipping through the final corner in his Group A Subaru Impreza, the former APRC champion took the steeper end where there was a rut.

The car jumped, and was landing nose-first, and here Bourne's control came to the fore as he regained control in an immaculate fashion to emerge winner in the open event, APRC (for FIA registered drivers) overall as well as APRC Group A.

``It's payback time for Subaru, which has sponsored me all these years, in their home,'' said Bourne.

Team MRF Tyres entry of New Zealand-born Australian Stuart Warren (Darryl Judd), driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo7, emerged triumphant in the APRC Group N for the team's second consecutive rally victory in the 2002 championship.

Warren, the overnight leader in this category, said he didn't take any chances.

"I had a good two-minute plus overnight lead over New Caledonian Jean Louis-Leyraud (co-driver Rob Scott, driving an Evo6) and I decided to opt for the comfort of the buffer and drove safe. My focus is the APRC, and it would have been stupid to have taken risks.''

The victory (16 points, including bonus) here takes Warren's APRC Group N points tally to 40 as he closes in on current leader Italian Nico Caldarola (49), with two more rounds to go, in China in October and Thailand in November.

``It feels good to win in our team's first visit to Japan.The earlier one was back home on flowing roads of Rotorua (New Zealand) which I am so used to.

``The conditions here are the worst I've seen in 19 years of rallying. The rains made it slushy and re-running on it was dangerous. The newly-developed MRF rally tyres are solid and sound and should help us again in China.''

Caldarola finished third in this section here.

Warren timed 3:29.48.9 overall, keeping Leyraud at bay by well over two minutes. He also finished third in the APRC overall and seventh in the open event.

The other Team MRF Tyres entrant V.R. Naren Kumar (D. Ram) garnered two APRC bonus points in this meet. Defending champion Karamjit Singh of Malaysia, in a Proton Pert, finished second behind Bourne in the APRC Group A and APRC overall, despite suffering a series of punctures in stage 17.

In the open event, he finished fifth. Karamjit, however, retains his hold in the APRC standings overall after four rounds with 46 points.

Marcos Ligato finished runner-up in the open event, followed by Japanese Fumio Nutahara, after Katsuhiko Taguchi, second overnight, retired after having a series of punctures.

The top five placings:

Open event: 1. Possum Bourne (Mark Stacey), A-8, Subaru Impreza, 3:15.08.7; 2. Marcos Ligato (Ruben Garcia), N-4, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6, 3:21.33.4; 3. Fumio Nutahara (Satoshi Hayashi), N-4, Evo7, 3:22.12.5; 4. Hiroshi Yanagisawa (Tadashi Misaizu), A-8, Subaru Impreza, 3:24.35.0; 5. Karamjit Singh (Allen Oh), A-8, Proton Pert, 3:26.39.6.

APRC overall: 1. Possum Bourne; 2. Karamjit Singh; 3. Stuart Warren (Darryl Judd), N-4, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo7, 3:29.48.9; 4. Jean Louis-Leyraud (Rob Scott), N-4, Evo6, 3:32.01.7; 5. Nico Caldarola (Giovanni

Agnese), N-4, Evo7, 3:34.00.7.

APRC Group N: 1. Stuart Warren; 2. Jean Louis-Leyraud; 3. Nico Caldarola.

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