APRC Live Podcast

This season may be Katsu Taguchi’s best opportunity to win a second APRC title. And the Japanese driver completed a classy win at his home event, steering clear of trouble with a measured, mature drive. His teammate Gaurav Gill set the pace throughout the event, but some bad luck and enormous pressure from Taguchi saw the Indian slip from first to third on the final leg of the event. In our round up of Rally Hokkaido, we talk to Taguchi, Gill, second-placed Hiroshi Yanagisawa and also catch up with Alister Mcrae and Chris Mellors from the Proton team. Have a listen to the show; just press the ‘Play’ button here, or download it from iTunes. Photos courtesy of gogofoto.

It might have been a ‘dead rubber’, but China Rally was a classic. Cody Crocker arrived with the 2008 APRC title in the bag, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to fight for his third Chinese victory in a row. But Hiroshi Yanagisawa, who has turned his season around since Rally Whangarei, wasn’t going to allow Crocker to have things his own way. Yanagisawa took Crocker head-on and, for the bulk of the event, looked to be heading for his first APRC victory. But a small mistake on the final stage cost him dearly, Crocker engineering a remarkable comeback on day two to win by just 1.2 seconds. In our final podcast of 2008, we catch up with all the action from China Rally, and look back at some of the audio highlights (and lowlights) of the season. Photos courtesy of Linear Photographs .

He’s was unstoppable! At Rally Malaysia Cody Crocker claimed his third Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in as many years. Joining Kenneth Ericsson, Karamjit Singh and Possum Bourne as the only drivers to claim three APRC titles, Crocker defied torrential rain, slippery roads, and a determined Katsu Taguchi to seal victory. In this podcast we go through the stages with all the drivers, and listen to just how they managed to overcome (or in some case didn’t overcome) the rivers of water that washed over the roads during Saturday’s stages. Plus we also catch up with the Pirelli Star Driver field, and find out how Mark Tapper beat some of his more fancied rivals to take the prize of a paid drive in next years Production World Rally Championship. Photos courtesy of www.linear-photographs.com