APRC China - Shakedown Completed

Longyou, China (12 Nov) - The rally's Shakedown event was duly completed by 5:00pm. Weather conditions was the same as earlier but started drizzling before event started and remained so till the end.

In the man-made course stretching 2.1km Super Special Stage (which would be repeated tomorrow as SS1), two cars are flagged-off side-by-side at a time. The narrow, winding and hilly course was made more difficult by the drizzle which made it slippery.

The Proton Satria Neo S2000, however, came out through it marvelously under the very cautious driving of Alister McRae, who was only able to push the car up to the 3rd gear. This rally is certainly beginning to look advantageous to the turbo-charged cars with torques kicking-in at a low-to-medium revs as opposed to the normally-aspirated Satria Neo S2000.

But all is not lost, as McRae puts it, "The Neo's ride is perfectly set and there's obviously big improvements in the handling".

Therefore, opting for a smart and clean driving style would be the best option in securing a good result in this rally, come rain or shine!