By Darren Goh
Kuala Lumpur, Fri: The inaugural Silverstone Asian Cross-Country Rally is poised to put Malaysia on the world map as a 4WD adventure haven.
A total of 60 4-wheel drive vehicles from four countries will circumnavigate Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore from Aug 25-31.
The participants from Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and Malaysia will be flagged off at Dataran Merdeka and will make their way up north.
The convoy will then move to the east coast before cutting down to Singapore and then back again here.
The seven-day journey will take the competitors through multi-terrain route traversing through rain forests, estates, rivers and beaches.
Chairman of the organizing committee Datuk Haji Mohamed Hilmi has plans to turn the grueling challenge into a calendar event to further promote tourism in the country. 

By Darren Goh
Rompin, Wed: The punishing jungle terrain's along the East coast has wiped out more than half of the original field of competitors of the 1st Silverstone Asian Cross-Country Rally.
As at the end of the SS9 today, only eight vehicles were left with a chance to wrest the inaugural title which enters its fourth day.
Yesterday's treacherous conditions at SS5 claimed six vehicles and another was added to the list of casualties today.
Car No 12 driven by Soo Hung-Jimmy Low of Team Silverstone is out after a flip-over 67 km into the 97.62 km SS8 stretch (Centrawasih to Tasik Rompin).
Kui Hung, who was the second to be flagged off today, failed to maneuver his Isuzu pick-up to safety after a front wheel puncture coming out of an S-curve.
"All the sudden, I lost control of the wheel and when I tried to swerve to the left, the car screeched and landed on an embankment," Kui Hung recalled.
Meanwhile, Kok Tsin Yee is still ahead due to his huge advantage gained yesterday.
He clocked 10:12 at SS7 ( Sungai Lembing) and just over 50 minutes at SS8 for a cushion lead of 1'50 over second placed Matsuoka-K. Ide of Japan. 

By Darren Goh
Johor Bahru, Thurs: A resilient Zainal Abiddin Sablee of Team Silverstone continued to claw his way up the ladder with an impressive timing on the fifth day of the Silverstone 1st Asian Cross Country Rally.
Zainal was the first to finish the 50 km stretch at SS10 (Air Papan to Bukit Tinggi). He took only 43:28, some four seconds faster than his nearest challenger, Kok Tsin Yee.
The 44-year-old Zainal was also the second best at the 63.87 km SS11 ( Bukit Tinggi-Sedili) clocking 37:50 to move up one rung into third place.
However, he still trails teammate Tsin Yee by 3'10 in overall standings.
"It was whether a predictable challenge today as the going was fast. But there is no way I'm going to be able to catch the leader as the rally is nearing its end." he said.
"My wish is not who wins the rally but that the team occupies the top three spots," added Zainal, who is also the team leader.

By Darren Goh
Kuala Lumpur, Sat: The week-long inaugural Silverstone Asian Cross-Country Rally, after going round the country, finally came to an end.
As expected, team Silversone's Kok Tsin Yee and David Tham, who had taken a huge lead since the third day, was too far ahead for the remaining seven competitors to catch.
The dynamic duo stuck to safe tactic by easing their pace to avoid any untoward incident. They clocked 20:40 at SS16 (Asahan-Bukit Jalur) to emerge champion. Their accumulated 13 stage runs of 9'21:23 was more than one hour ahead of second placed Kazumi Matsuoka-K. Ide of Japan while third spot went to Zainal Abiddin Sablee-James Wong.
We went into the final SS knowing very well that we have to finish the course to secure the title. I just let the other cars behind us to pass without any obstruction and to play it safe," said a jubilant Tsin Yee. 

SILVERSTONE Tire and Rubber Co Sdn held its First Asian Cross-Country Rally 1996 transversing one of the world's oldest rain forest in Malaysia and Singapore.
The rally is the first of a total of five Asian Cross Country rallies planned.
Organized by Persatuan Pemotoran Malaysian, the rally themed Live The Adventure , The Discovery And The Friendship, was flagged off at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur recently.
"The discovery is travelling through the Asian countries where one has not gone before and the friendship is the interaction between local and foreign participants," said PPM secretary-general Steven Ng.