In hot and humid temperatures that reached 39 degrees Celsius, Crocker and co-driver, Ben Atkinson, have clinched the championship with one round to spare in their MotorImage Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
Only needing to get through the final day’s six stages to claim the title, Crocker finished second behind arch-rival, Katsu Taguchi from Japan, in a Mitsubishi. However, with Taguchi having already completed his six championship events and having to miss the final event in China, Crocker has tallied enough points to secure the win.
“Everything went according to plan today,” a jubilant Crocker said at the end of the day. “We took it pretty easy as we only had to get through today’s stages to win the title.
“The hardest part today was the pressure that I was putting on myself. When you don’t need to push to the limit you need to make sure you retain 100 per cent concentration for the whole time, and fortunately we were able to do that.”
After yesterday’s torrential downpour late in the day, the MotorImage Subaru used a medium compound tyre in the slippery conditions. They worked perfectly, and ensured that Crocker was able to add a third Asia-Pacific crown to his three Australian Rally Championship titles.
“It’s fantastic to win another title, and to have my family here to help celebrate is awesome. We’ve had a busy couple of weeks, with the Singapore Motor Show, the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, and now the Rally of Malaysia, so the celebrations will be sweet,” Crocker said.
Crocker has the chance to further add to his points tally at the final round of the championship, the Rally of China, to be held on November 8 and 9.
* Results subject to official confirmation.
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