MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A very Merry Christmas to all my readers, thank you for taking the time to visit my blog :) I'm heading north for Christmas for lunch and dinner with the family.

GRA Round 5 2008

It was a humid day but thank to the clouds for providing shade from the scorching sun. Never the less the event on the tarmac was hot and exciting. The day started off with Grass Class fighting it out, sweetie managed to get her car back in time for this event and did all she could to chase for the title of champion in Class A. Being the only Automatic car in her class, she managed to finish 3rd in the event and 2nd overall in the championship. Congratulations Sweetie.

William who pilots a Suzuki Swift was crowned champion in class AA and he has been consistent throughout the entire year.

In the afternoon the Pro Grass drivers started their machines and burnt rubber all over. I don't have the results at the moment, but I will post them up once I get a copy. Here's what I remembered from the event. I was fighting for top honors of being champion for 2008, had tough competition from Singapore with a monster Evo 8 that has about 500+ HP. Ivan shredded the rear left tire on his loan Renault Clio Gti, he then hopped in a Version 9 Subaru Impreza WRX to continue his chase, later on I loaned him my car for 1 run and he managed to destroy the left rear tire as well. In the end I managed to keep a small lead to take victory in the event this round and sealing the championship as Champion 2008.

Finally my dreams have been fufilled, after 5 years of AutoCrossing I manage to finish 1st overall :)

Photos will come shortly when I get them from friends.

Subaru pulls out of the WRC :(

This was shocking news to me, Subaru pulling out of the World Rally Championships is shocking. Due to the recent economic downturn everyone is looking to cut costs here and there, but it is really sad when your favorite car manufacturer decides to quit racing when they make cars based from a racing heritage.

Abstracted from www.wrc.com

Subaru pulls out of the WRC

Subaru has announced its decision to withdraw from the 2009 World Rally Championship.

Prodrive, the company which runs the team on behalf of Subaru, broke the news at 0900hrs this morning. It said the decision was sudden and had been

made in response to the economic downturn currently affecting the automotive industry.

Yesterday Suzuki confirmed it would not be back in 2009 for similar reasons.

The Subaru World Rally Team was established in 1989, when the Japanese manufacturer teamed up with British based motor sport specialists Prodrive. Since then the team has won six World Rally Championship titles - most recently the drivers’ title with Petter Solberg in 2003. In recent years, however, the team has struggled to find its previous rally winning form. It last won a rally on the stages in Mexico 2005.

“This is not only sad news for Subaru and the team, but also for millions of rallying fans around the world,” said Prodrive chairman David Richards.

“Subaru’s departure from the World Rally Championship is a great loss as it is one of the sport’s icons. The Subaru World Rally Team has created true champions such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns and its absence will be felt by many the world over. Although this decision closes a significant chapter in Prodrive’s history, our focus now turns to the future.”

While the Subaru World Rally Team historically represented a significant part of Prodrive’s business, today it accounts for no more than 20 per cent of turnover. Prodrive says it will look to redeploy as many of the rally team as possible in other areas of its business operations.

There is no news yet from Subaru about how the decision will affect Subaru’s driver Petter Solberg/Phil Mills and Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot, or whether the company plans to return to the sport in the future.

Prodrive, however, is already lining up its own rally return saying “2010 will see the introduction of new World Rally Championship technical regulations, which provide Prodrive with an opportunity to prepare for re-entering the championship with a new team and build on its 24 years of World Rally Championship experience and success.”

Prodrive also pledged to support its own customer rally teams for 2009 and beyond. Over the past 15 years, Prodrive has sold close to 500 rally cars to more than 400 private competitors and independent rally teams in 47 countries.

R.I.P Harmony

...May you have a better life where ever you are...

When Sweetie and I took Harmony in from the pound we took her to the vet for a check-up and gave her medication for whatever she had. We also cared alot for her as we helped her adapt to her surroundings and provide her proper food.

Sadly yesterday Harmony passed on, we don't really know what happened. With the help of our two neighbors we managed to bury her at a nearby field, just under a tree.

I just don't know what else to say or write....we are sad, very sad indeed.

A Quick Update

I've been busy work, since we're moving office I have to be on-site in the dusty environment making sure that everything is up and running before 12th December. Zoey's blog has some updates so head on over there to see what she has been up to. In the mean time I will squeeze whatever time I can to blog about what is going on in my life.

Thanks!