NAREN
WARMS UP FOR ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Chennai,
5 April, 2007 - Furthering his conquest into the international rallying arena
the Team JK Tyre star rallyist and Asia Zone Rally Champion
along with six National Rally title, Naren Kumar, has logged
into the world of Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) in the Year 2007
season with New Zealand’s Reece Jones Motorsports. Naren would be driving
a specially customized Mitsubishi EVO 9 along with his long time navigator
Ram Kumar across the hostile terrains of Asia Pacific region.
Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Head Motorsport - JK Tyre, sponsor of
Naren, expressed his delight at Naren’s achievement and said “Naren
is an institution in himself, having established himself with Asia Zone Rally
Championship win and National Rally Championship six times. His worth in the
Indian rally circuit in widely known and with his loads of experience, we
are hopeful and wish Naren to make most of the this challenging opportunity
at hand.”
Commenting on his association with team Reece Jones Motorsports, Naren Kumar
said, “New Zealand’s Reece Jones
Motorsport is a highly recognized Group N team. I am very excited to see Reece
Jones Motorsports and country’s numero uno engineer and six time national
rally champion N. Leelakrishnan working together and am sure that we will
come out with a highly potent Mitsubishi EVO 9”. “Together with
Ram Kumar, who has been my partner for ages now, we are anticipating a great
time on the circuit”, he further added.
|
|
Naren
(L) / Ramkumar (R) |
RamKumar
(L), Naren Kumar (C) & Leelakrishnan (R) |
It must
be noted that JK Tyre pulled out of rallying following an unprecedented modification
in the qualifying criteria for teams participating in the National Rally Championship,
which has subsequently impacted the rallying standards and competitive levels
of the championship in India.
However, unfazed with the development, JK Tyre continues to promote rallying,
apart from encouraging racing and karting, across various forms in the country
and has successfully conducted a rallying programme for the head-honchos of
Indian corporates in Coimbatore recently. Apart from this, JK Tyre has charted
out a comprehensive programme for their activities on rally circuit in the
coming years. The beginning saw JK Tyre supporting the one of its kind Indo-Myanmar
rally for armed forces and Indo-Bhutan rally with the India-Bhutan Foundation
and Bhutan-India Friendship Association The recently organized trans-subcontinent
SAARC rally, initiative of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, aptly supported
by JK Tyre has been widely acknowledged and appreciated in all the SAARC member
countries.
Commenting on the same, Mr. Sanjay Sharma said, “JK
Tyre is committed to continuously involve its quality set-up and resources,
which includes the most recognized names in Indian rallying including Hari
Singh, N. Leela Krishnan, Vikram Mathias to promote rally in the country.
Supporting Naren for the APRC, is just another humble effort from our side
and is an extension of this programme”. “I on behalf of the entire
country extend our wishes in his endeavour”, he added.
The 2007
FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship will feature the following events:
Venue |
Date |
| Rallye de Nouvelle
Caledonia |
13-15 April |
| Hella International
Rally of Whangarei |
11-13 May |
| Rally of Canberra |
1-3 June |
| Rally Hokkaido |
6-8 July |
| Malaysian Rally |
10-12 Aug |
| Gudang Garam International
Rally Indonesia |
7-9 Sep |
| China Rally |
11-13 Nov |
