Malaysian Rally Championship of the Putrajaya stage had just ended and Karamjit Singg is the fastest man around all stages but a 15 minute penalty took away his lead and letting Mike Ariokiasamy Ratnam and co-driver Wayne Cheah to hold the no 1 position.Read the full story from thestar
Mike, Wayne finish first as misfortune hits Karamjit
PETALING JAYA: Mike Ariokiasamy Ratnam and co-driver Wayne Cheah finished first as misfortune hit favourite Karamjit Singh in the opening round of the Malaysian Rally Championships at Putrajaya on Sunday.
Mike romped home in 54:15 to climb the top of the podium for the first time.
“This is the first time we are on the podium as number one. We almost did not finish the last special stage because the radiator was covered with mud and the engine started giving us problems in the last 200m,” said Mike.
Jamaluddin Tukimin, who has his sister, Rozita, as the co-driver, finished just five seconds behind Mike.
It was only in the final special stage that Mike secured the lead from Indian Arjun Rao, who failed to finish due to a busted oil cooler, which caused his Mitsubishi Lancer engine to seize.
Karamjit was the fastest in every stage of the rally but he was slapped with a 15-minute penalty on Saturday and was forced to start from 19th place, making it almost impossible for him to make up the difference.
Karamjit ended in ninth place overall and second in the 4WD category behind Kairol Ashraf Rahim.
Of the 26 cars that started the rally, nine did not finish.
The No. 1 enemy of motor racing in Malaysia is ‘M’.
M=money. Karamjit, did you really sold your apartment to pay for your FIA fines and freight costs of shipping your car back to Malaysia?