Shah Alam, Malaysia - Tuesday August 23rd., 2005 ... The penultimate round of the Malaysian Rally Championship was held this past weekend in the plantations of the southern peninsular state of Johor. The rally was also the fifth round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship, and the third round of the Southeast Asia Rally Championship. As such, it attracted major talent from around the region.

Unfortunately though, three of SR Motorsport's entries succumbed to the unpredictable and slippery conditions, caused by sudden and torrential rain during Leg 1. But the Mitsubishi Evo 8 of Dermott Malley, survived to take the third spot on the podium. Their rally almost came undone though when a damaged rear differential was diagnosed at the beginning of Leg 2. But the service crew worked feverishly to change it in just thirteen minutes.

Winners of the rally for the past two years, Brian Green and Fleur Pedersen, switched from an SR Motorsport Subaru Impreza to Brian's own Evo 8, but luck was not with them this time around as they clipped a bank and damaged the oil cooler. They returned for Leg 2, in the hope of snatching a few extra points in all three championships, but were slowed dramatically for much of the day when the gearbox would only select third.

SR Motorsport's rookie driver James Russell was elevated into one of the team's faster v4 Subaru Imprezas for this event. Accompanied by experienced co-driver Jagdev Singh, James scored some impressive stage results, but was caught out by a slippery corner, and retired due to car damage on SS6. This was unfortunate, as James was comfortably leading his class, and was placed sixth overall at the time of his retirement.

Newcomers to the team, Adrian Lam and Ivan Ng, were driving their own Proton Wira 1.6 and had hoped to bring the team some extra points from a class win. This had looked to be very possible, as half-way through the rally, they were first in class P10. But, the same slippery conditions that caught out more than half the field, eventually saw them slide into retirement on the final stage of Leg 1.

As Team Manager Paul Russell noted, "Our strategy was to bring four cars to the finish, so as to rack up as many points as possible, especially in the Southeast Asia and Malaysian Rally Championships. In this regard, we certainly failed, but frankly, the conditions were not conducive to getting cars to the finish.

"We are of course very happy with Dermott and Patrick's podium" he continued "which was hard earned. By our calculations, this has allowed us to increase our lead in the MRC Team Championship. Brian and Fleur were very unlucky, as their impact with the bank was very minor, and the damage unexpected. But there were good signs from both young drivers, Adrian and James, so there are some positives we can bring from the rally, and we have highlighted some areas to work on."

The team will now regroup in time for the final round of the MRC, which is also the fourth round of the Southeast Asia Rally Championship. The venue will be at the opposite end of the peninsular from last weekend's event, near the Thai border, in Perlis, and will be held on October 1st & 2nd. SR Motorsport expects to have at least three cars entered, and will be in maximum attack mode, so as to secure the Malaysian Rally Championship Team Prize for the second consecutive year.