Crocker, the three-time Australian Rally Champion, is contesting the Asia-Pacific Championship for the first time after winning the last three Australian Rally Championships.

Driving the latest 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI on Pirelli tyres, Crocker easily won both legs of the exceptionally rough and hot event. In his own words:

“This is the perfect start for us: we are looking at a really hard event and invariably the roads are some of the toughest we see during the season. The Pirelli tyres stood up to the extreme conditions and gave me every chance to keep ahead of the field. It was very demanding in the heat today: a good taste of what we can expect in many of the events scheduled for the rest of the Championship."

Crocker won seven out of the eight stages on Saturday and a further six out of nine on Sunday to win the Subaru Rally of Canberra title for the second year in a row.

New team member Eli Evans, competing in his first event with the team, delivered a very impressive second place in his Impreza.

"Using the latest evolutions of the KM hard and medium compound tyres gave Cody and Eli the necessary levels of grip to easily dominate the event," said Pirelli's Motorsport Manager, Simon Pool. "This event presents a high risk of puncture from large rocks and stones but both Cody and Eli had no such problem and fully demonstrated the strength and durability of our PZero Rally product."

The team has opted to miss the second round in New Caledonia and contest the third round of the Asia-Pacific Championship in Rotorua, New Zealand, from May 26 to 28.