Le Tour de Langkawi - LTdL 2008

Savini conquers Fraser's but Ivanov snatches yellow
16/2/2008

FRASER'S HILL (16 Feb, 2008) - The stage might have gone to Filippo Savini but the day belonged to Ruslan Ivanov as he snatched the yellow jersey at the end of Stage Eight from Temerloh to Fraser's Hill to ensure his Serramenti PVC team ends Le Tour de Langkawi 2008 on a high note tomorrow.

And with a 29-second lead going into tomorrow's KL Criterium, Ivanov and Serramenti are all set to claim the silverware at the Dataran Merdeka tomorrow evening.

Ruslan Ivanov (Serramenti PVC) MORE PHOTOS	STAGE 8 - General Classification PL No. Name Time 1 84 Savini,Filippo 3h12'32" 2 14 Ivanov,Ruslan 3h12'47" 3 11 Serpa Perez,Jose 3h12'47" 4 15 Ochoa,Carlos Jos 3h13'15" 5 44 Pedraza,Walter 3h13'15" 6 221 Yates,Jeremy 3h13'23" 7 92 Cesar,Gustavo 3h13'23" 8 65 Sprick,Matthieu 3h13'23" 9 164 Fahridi,Kovij Mehdi 3h13'23" 10 62 Clement,Stef 3h13'27"

Serramenti, which won the pivotal climb up Genting Highlands in 2006 and 2007 but failed to win the General Classification, had their fortunes reversed this time round when they sacrificed the stage to Savini (CSF Group Navigare) to concentrate on winning the overall title.

"We explained to the riders this morning that we are faced with a choice since we have two riders in the GC - we can either allow Jose Serpa (the climber who had won in 2006 and 2007) to win in Fraser's Hill or we concentrate on the GC. The team chose the latter," said Serramenti PVC team manager Gianni Savio after the race.

"And since Jackson (Rodriguez) was not in the best of conditions, it was up to Ruslan to win the GC and he did a fantastic job."

Added Ivanov: "the last three or four kilometers was all Serpa when he stopped (in the breakaway with Savini) to help me. I gained 40 seconds from his pace and I dedicate this win to the whole team."

The first hour of the race out of Temerloh saw Li Fuyu (Trek Marco Polo) in front and even though he managed a lead of over a minute lead over the peloton, the hard work by Drapac Porsche and Serramenti PVC made sure that they were all together before the climb up Fraser's Hill.

Jai Crawford (Trek Marco Polo) was the first to be away but was caught by the AG2R-led bunch as Serpa, Rodriguez, Johann Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom) and Savini went off.

Rodriguez then dropped off as Savini went off at the one kilometer mark to claim his first win.

"The tactic was to stay in front and making sure that there are no dangerous breakaways," added Savini, who also took the red jersey for the king of the mountain classification.

"The climb was not too hard and it suited me. So when Serpa went ahead, I responded before going solo.

Aurelien Clerc (Bouygues Telecom) extended his hold of the sprinter's green jersey to 83 points while Shinichi Fukushima (Meitan Hompo) regained the blue jersey for the best Asian rider.

"I am very happy to win this jersey back but the climb was very hard and I thought that I did not win because I had dropped off at one time," added Shinichi.

FULL RESULTS
RACE LOG

Source: http://www.ltdl.com.my/

Bookings for latest Proton Saga reach 23,000 units

Proton Holdings Bhd's latest Proton Saga has seen bookings (click image to enlarge)









reach 23,000 with a waiting period of between five and six months for delivery of the units.

Managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the company would continue to give consumers what they want.

“We see such market response as one of the indications that we're on the right track in our strategy to produce the right car for the right market at the right price,” he said at a customer appreciation day at the Proton Centre of Excellence here on Sunday.

On the waiting period, he said Proton was stepping up production to accelerate the delivery to meet demand.

Syed Zainal said the company was now seeing the outcome of the concerted efforts and initiatives to improve operational performance and customer satisfaction via the Proton Customer Action Team – an integrated team made up of representatives from manufacturing, quality control, vendors, sales, after-sales, 24-hour assist and Proton i.care hotline.

“As a result of Proton's continuous improvement activities and initiatives, product quality has shown a marked improvement with a positive decline in the vehicle defects-per-unit from the introduction of the Waja in 2000 until the latest model as reflected in the recent JD Power Initial Quality Survey Study 2006/2007,” he said.

He said the survey, among other things, showed the Savvy retaining its position among the top three of the small car segment while the Wira stayed in the top three spot in the mid-size entry segment.

PROTON : [Stock Watch] [News]

Honda Sales Speed Up in May to New Record; Civic Sets All-Time Record
CR-V and Fit set records

TORRANCE, Calif. June 1, 2007 --

Record May sales for American Honda Motor Co., Inc., increased to 145,367, up from 141,810 in 2006, breaking the previous May record set in 2004, the company announced today. The Honda Division posted record May sales of 129,447, up from May 2006 results of 125,639.

With one additional selling day in May 2007, the daily selling rate* (DSR) percentage change represents a 1.4 percent decline for American Honda and a 0.9 percent decline for Honda Division. Year-to-date American Honda sales increased to 625,994, up 1.0 percent.

Honda Division's new May record was bolstered by all-time record sales of the compact Civic and subcompact Fit and a new May record for the CR-V crossover SUV - the best-selling SUV in the U.S. Civic sales of 39,993, up 32.6 percent for the month, shattered an all-time record of 36,533 set in August 2001. Civic Hybrid sales of 4,520, up 50.4 percent, also broke the all-time record of 4,146 set in August 2005. Record May CR-V sales increased by 35.9 percent to 19,513. Fit results of 5,361 achieved a new all-time record.

"Small is big right now," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda. "Smaller vehicles have become more attractive for multiple reasons and we expect this trend to continue for the time being."

Additional large volume Honda Division products for May include the Accord, 31,915; Odyssey, 15,235; and Pilot, 10,133. Ridgeline and Element volume respectively totaled 3,600 and 3,187. Year-to-date, Honda Division sales of 551,220 are up 2.5 percent with total car sales increasing by 3.9 percent and light truck sales increasing by 0.7 percent on a DSR basis.

Acura Division sales totaled 15,920. The recent introductions of the completely redesigned MDX luxury SUV and all-new RDX crossover SUV pushed Acura light truck sales up 82.6 percent to 6,635. The MDX posted strong May sales of 4,623, up 27.2 percent versus last year and up 7.1 percent for the year on a DSR basis.

*The daily selling rate is calculated with 26 days for May 2007, versus 25 for 2006.

For more information about Honda vehicles, please visit www.honda.com. For media inquiries, please go to www.hondanews.com.For more information about Acura vehicles, please visit www.acura.com. For media inquiries, please go to www.acuranews.com.