Shah Alam, Malaysia - Tuesday June 7th., 2005 ... The inaugural round of the Southeast Asia Rally Championship "SEArally" took place this past weekend in Rayong, Thailand. SR Motorsport was proud to be able to participate in this promising new championship, and wasn't disappointed with the result.

The Kiwi crew of Brian Green and Fleur Pedersen finished second overall, only beaten by the experienced home crew of Wittaya and Pramote, entered by the Thai Beer-Maxima Rally Team. Brian's SR Motorsport-entered Subaru Impreza ran like clockwork throughout the one-day event, covering some 100kms of special stages with only the smallest of problems.

Less lucky was SR Motorsport's second crew of James Russell and Jagdev Singh, who experienced performance-sapping problems for a good 75% of the day. Nonetheless, they finished fourth overall of the SEArally entrants, collecting some useful points with five rounds to go. Their biggest problem was caused by malfunctioning radiator fans, which caused the engine to go into "safe mode" and perform more like a family sedan than a Group N rally car. But, when this had been diagnosed and repaired, James and Jagdev were setting top three times ... at one point equaling Brian's time.

As co-driver Jagdev commented at the finish "James' times are quite amazing given the speed of the car with its standard engine. With a faster car, which we hope to use later in the year, I really believe we will be winning rallies far sooner than I had expected. This, after all" he continued "is only James' fourth rally as a driver."

Team Manager Paul Russell was equally enthusiastic about the result. "So far this year luck has not been on our side, so its very nice to get a solid finish from an overseas event" he said. "It was a good start too for the SEArally Championship. There is a lot of interest in the region. Hopefully many more teams will join, and in future years, other countries too. I believe the championship will form a very important stepping-stone for crews wanting to move from the national level to APRC" he concluded.

The next two rounds of the SEArally Championship will be held in Malaysia. The first, which is also round four of the Malaysian Rally Championship will be held in the sugar cane plantations of the northern state of Perlis towards the end of June.

SR Motorsport expects to have its usual three-car entry, and hopes to build on the points tally gained this past weekend in Thailand.