Team MRF tops in APRC series

Team MRF finished the 2012 season in brilliant style claiming three Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) titles at the final event here.

After a fast and consistent display throughout the season, Team MRF?s lead driver Australian Chris Atkinson and Belgian co-driver Stephane Prevot clinched the championship with second place in the Chinese event Sunday while the Chennai-based tyre manufacturer also scored an emphatic victory in the Team and Manufacturers championships.

"That's the win!" a jubilant Atkinson said. "I'm stoked to be crowned the 2012 Asia-Pacific Rally Champion! We finished third for the day, but that is all we needed to win the championship. A massive thanks to all the guys at Race Torque," KODA Australia, Brakes Direct, MRF Tyres, the FIA APRC and, of course, all my fans out there.

"This is my first major international championship win and I'm rapt to pick up the APRC title here in China."

Heading into the Rally China Longyou, the Race Torque-prepared Skoda Fabia S2000s of Atkinson and his Indian teammate Gaurav Gill simply needed a strong finish to help secure the titles.

The first day of the two-day rally was a good one for Team MRF with Gill and Australian co-driver, Glenn Macneall, leading their nearest rival, Proton?s Alister McRae, by 12 seconds.

"I had a good feeling with the car over the first day?s stages. The stages were a little bit rough but we drove quickly and the MRF tyres worked very well," Gill said.

However, Gill's hopes of victory were dashed on the first stage of the second day when his car retired with mechanical problems. It summed up a frustrating year for the Indian, who was often the fastest driver on events, but bad luck meant that his only victory came in round two, in New Caledonia.

Atkinson, meanwhile, won in New Zealand and Australia and finished runner's-up in New Caledonia, Malaysia and in China. His winning margin in the championship was 33 points. He also claimed the FIA Pacific Cup for Drivers.

In the Manufacturers' race, Skoda took maximum points on three of the six rounds, while consistency over the whole season enabled Team MRF to take a convincing 43 point win in the Teams Trophy.

Team MRF boss Lane Heenan was thrilled to finish the season with three championship titles and praised both drivers for their efforts over such a diverse championship.

"The APRC is such a challenging series and both Chris and Gaurav have driven superbly this year," Heenan said.

"We've had a few technical problems that have cost us event wins but overall the Race Torque Skoda Fabias have been the class of the field. Congratulations to Chris on his first international championship victory and commiserations to Gaurav - he showed incredible speed this year, but luck wasn't on his side. I'm sure the title will be his in the not too distant future."

Heenan also paid tribute to his hard working team.

"The APRC throws everything at you, from hot, dry and dusty conditions to cold, wet and miserable weather. It's not easy for the mechanics to work in such varying conditions, but the guys have once again performed brilliantly."

Final results: 1 Alister McRae/Bill Hayes (Proton Satria Neo), 2 Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot (Skoda Fabia), 3 Juha Salo/Marko Salminen (Proton Satria Neo).

APRC classifications: Drivers: 1. Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot (154 points); 2. Alister McRae/Bill Hayes (121); 3. Brian Green/Fleur Pedersen (114); 4. Gaurav Gill/Glenn Macneall (82); 5. Karamjit Singh/Vivek Ponnusamy (72).

Teams: 1. MRF 243 points; 2. Proton Motorsports 200; 3. Proton R3 Cusco 158.

Manufacturers: 1. Skoda 179 points; 2. Proton 159; 3. Mitsubishi 109; 4. Subaru 52.