Team MRF looking to make it six wins out of six rallies: APRC final leg

Longyou (China) 7 Nov 2014: Team MRF will be hoping to complete the perfect season at this weekend’s China Rally Longyou, when they aim for their sixth win from six starts in the 2014 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). With Czech driver, Jan Kopecky, clinching the 2014 APRC driver’s crown at the previous round, he and team-mate, Gaurav Gill (India), will be going head-to-head for victory in the Team MRF Skoda Fabia S2000s. Team MRF’s title win is their fifth, and their third in a row, and the team will be celebrating their success after the China Rally.

2013 APRC Champion and Indian Rallying Ace Gaurav Gill is hoping to finish the season on a high and is cautious of the challenge that lies ahead this weekend. He said, “It is always very tough and difficult here in China because of different changes in the Stages. You know you can go from gravel to wet and rocky surfaces and then onto the really fast concrete roads. It can also be very unforgiving with long and winding roads. The season has not turned out as well as I had hoped but am still proud to be part of Team MRF and our unbelievable record this year. I will be going for the win here and am confident of fighting for the win.”                                                         

Both drivers have been evenly matched this year, with Kopecky being a little more consistent on his first season in the APRC. His 2014 title comes after he won the 2013 European Rally Championship. Kopecky said, “It’s been a great experience competing together in all these different countries, and again China will be something new. Hopefully we can get a good result in China, because it would be the perfect way to finish this incredible season.”

Team MRF’s first win in this hat-trick of titles came in 2012, when Australian Chris Atkinson took the crown, with current driver, Gaurav Gill, tasting success last season. Team MRF Technical Head Lane Heenan, said, “The victories have been hard fought and are a real credit to all the Race Torque guys who prepare the cars. The APRC provides some of the most challenging conditions in world rallying, from the fantastic roads in New Zealand, right through to the slippery tracks and unpredictable weather in Malaysia.Throughout the past three seasons the Skoda Fabia S2000 has been the car to beat, and has really proved itself in these conditions.”

This weekend, Jan Kopecky and Pavel Dresler, and Gaurav Gill and Glenn Macneall, will face 13 closed road special stages over a mixture of gravel and concrete surfaces that will test them to the limit. In a total competitive distance of 231 kilometres, the event’s longest stage is the 25.64km Mu Chen test, which will be run as stage eight and 11.

The China Rally is based in the city of Longyou, 400 kilometres south-west of Shanghai and 200km from Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province. Longyou has a long history. It’s 2236 years since its foundation, and on one side of the city, there are bamboo covered mountains, hills, plains and rivers; on the other side peaks, cliffs, caves, stones, pools and lakes.

Team MRF’s main opposition will come from Australian Mark Pedder in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, and Japan’s Yuyu Sumiyama.

eom/Adrenna Press Release