His teammate Gaurav Gill set the pace throughout the event, but some bad luck and enormous pressure from Taguchi saw the Indian slip from first to third on the final leg of the event.

In our round up of Rally Hokkaido, we talk to Taguchi, Gill, second-placed Hiroshi Yanagisawa and also catch up with Alister Mcrae and Chris Mellors from the Proton team. Have a listen to the show; just press the ‘Play’ button here, or download it from iTunes.

Photos courtesy of gogofoto.

While Crocker made it siz wins from six events this year, his team-mate Emma Gilmore battled through the pain of a broken hand to move ahead of Katsu Taguchi in the championship points to give MotorImage their first 1-2 in the series and ensure Subaru won the manufacturers title.

The podium places were claimed by Rifat Singkar and Yuya Sumiyama, while higher profile drives like Katsu Taguchi, Gaurav Gill and Hiroshi Yanagisawa all failed on the rough and dangerous mountain roads.

In our final podcast of 2009, we catch up to Crocker, Gilmore, Sungkar and the rest of the field at the end of a long and tough rally. Have a listen to the show; just press the ‘Play’ button here, or download it from iTunes.

Photos courtesy of plopcrew.net.

Katsu Taguchi has fought hard all year to stem the tide, but the Motor Image Subaru Impreza is now just too fast for the Taguchi’s older Mitsubishi Evo 9.

Emma Gilmore battled hard to claim the final podium position, in a rally that mixed heat, dust, rain and mud. But Alister McRae, Gaurav Gill, Hiroshi Yanagisawa, Yuya Sumiyama and Rifat Sungkar all had bad-luck stories to tell at the end of two torturous days.

In this podcast, we talk to Crocker, Taguchi and rest of the field about an event that provided plenty of action and excitement. Have a listen to the show; just press the ‘Play’ button here, or download it from iTunes.

Photos courtesy of Linear Photographs and www.rallyindonesia.com.

But for Katsu Taguchi, his dream of a second APRC title came horribly unstuck. It’s rare for the Japanese driver not to bring his car to the finish line, but in Malaysia he wasn’t able to complete either leg, crashing on both Saturday and Sunday.

In our coverage of Rally Malaysia 2009, we catch up with to Crocker and Taguchi, Gaurav Gill and Emma Gilmore, plus two new (but familiar) faces in the APRC ranks. Rifat Sungkar returned in a privately entered Lancer EVO 8, while former champion Karamjit Singh debuted the all-new Proton Neo S2000.

Have a listen to the show; just press the ‘Play’ button here, or download it from iTunes.

Photos courtesy of Linear Photographs.

In our coverage of Rally Hokkaido 2009, we talk to Crocker and Taguchi, Gaurav Gill and Emma Gilmore, and the Hiroshi Yanagisawa who debuted an all-new Mitsubishi Lance Evo X. So to catch up with all the Rally Hokkaido action, just press the ‘Play’ button here, or download it from iTunes.

Photos courtesy of www.rally-hokkaido.com.

To catch up with all the Rally Whangarei action, just press the ‘Play’ button here, or download it from iTunes.

Photos courtesy of Michael Young and Linear Photographs.

To catch up with all the Rally Queensland action, just press the ‘Play’ button here, or download it from iTunes.

Photos courtesy of Tim Jordan.

But Hiroshi Yanagisawa, who has turned his season around since Rally Whangarei, wasn’t going to allow Crocker to have things his own way. Yanagisawa took Crocker head-on and, for the bulk of the event, looked to be heading for his first APRC victory. But a small mistake on the final stage cost him dearly, Crocker engineering a remarkable comeback on day two to win by just 1.2 seconds.

In our final podcast of 2008, we catch up with all the action from China Rally, and look back at some of the audio highlights (and lowlights) of the season.

Photos courtesy of Linear Photographs .

Joining Kenneth Ericsson, Karamjit Singh and Possum Bourne as the only drivers to claim three APRC titles, Crocker defied torrential rain, slippery roads, and a determined Katsu Taguchi to seal victory.

In this podcast we go through the stages with all the drivers, and listen to just how they managed to overcome (or in some case didn’t overcome) the rivers of water that washed over the roads during Saturday’s stages.

Plus we also catch up with the Pirelli Star Driver field, and find out how Mark Tapper beat some of his more fancied rivals to take the prize of a paid drive in next years Production World Rally Championship.

Photos courtesy of www.linear-photographs.com