The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Flying start for Team MRF

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Saturday, Apr 12, 2008
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Sport - Racing : Motor

Flying start for Team MRF

Rayan Rozario

NOUMEA (NEW CALEDONIA): An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale shook quite a few people here on Thursday evening.

But it failed to shake Katsuhiko Taguchi and co-driver Mark Stacey’s confidence in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship which began here on Friday.

The duo from MRF Tyres came up with a masterful display in the Rally of New Caledonia’s two special stages which were run at the Hippodrome Stadium here.

Taguchi topped both the 3.75km stages to take the lead in the three-day rally while Australian Scott Pedder who is making his debut for Team MRF here, finished second in both.

Pleasant surprise

Taguchi was expected to dominate here but not Pedder. His performance was a pleasant surprise for the team.

The rally, the first of APRC’s seven rounds, has a total competitive distance of 235.63km. With nine special stages on the cards, all around Poya — a town 214km north of Noumea — Saturday will be a long and crucial day. The action will shift to La Foa, which is nearly 100km from Noumea, on Sunday. The final day will also bring up the rally’s longest stage, a 35.10km run at Katrikoin.

The results (provisional, top 3): Special Stage 1: 1. Katsuhiko Taguchi & Mark Stacey (Team MRF, 3min, 6 seconds), 2. Scott Pedder & Glen Weston (Team MRF, 3:10), 3. Gael Lecerf & Yvon Catala (Lecerf Gael, 3:11). Special Stage 2: 1. Taguchi/Stacey (3:12), 2. Pedder & Weston (3:18), 3. Hiroshi Yanagisawa & Yoshimasa Nakahara (Cusco Racing, 3:18).

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