27 June 2008
MEI AND JAGADEV TAKE ROUND TWO
Seasoned rally driver William Mei showed true grit in Round 2 of the AAM Malaysian 4X4 Rally championship in Temerloh, sweeping aside the competition in his Isuzu D-Max 3.0 recently.
Mei drove flawlessly through the three long stages to record his first win of the year and with it, closed the gap to the championship leader with two rounds remaining this season.
Starting fourth on the road, the race started off well enough for Mei as he won the opening day's 50km Kerdau Estate stage with a healthy 1 minute 55 second lead over defending champion Ho Foo Ming who was the series' favourite. Ho's Mitsubishi appeared to have no answer to the power and handling of the D-Max and he found himself locked in a tight battle with Wong Sing Cheong in a similar Mitsubishi Storm.
"It was very rough in the stage with huge holes but we managed to keep our heads and maintain a good pace," said Mei.
After needing no more than precautionary checks and a change of brake shoes by the service crew, Mei was given the honour of leading the field through SS2 the next day. However, Mei nearly scuttled his lead when he encountered knee-deep mud from overnight rain for 10km in the 60km stage. He managed to win the event with a 30-second lead.
Mei's D-Max was stock standard exccept for the intercooler water spray and was pitted against some very highly-tuned rally-prepared 4X4 vehicles.
Just last week, UMW Pennzoil Distributors joined Silverstone and ORE Off-Road Equipment as the co-sponsors of the four-round championship.
The event is sanctioned by the Automobile Association of Malaysia(AAM) and organised by the Perak Motorsport Club. AMC Events Management in the event's promoter.
The next round of the AAM Malaysian 4X4 Rally Champoinship will be run in Kluang, Johor next month.
