Makassar triumph gives Valimaki APRC 2005 crown<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi<\/p>\n
Jussi Valimaki got a double belated birthday present on
\nSunday, winning the Gudang Garam International Rally here to lift
\nthe FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) title.<\/p>\n
The two-day Makassar rally was the sixth of the eight-leg APRC
\nthis year, but the MRF Tyres driver's 70 points from the five
\nraces he participated in gave him an unassailable lead.<\/p>\n
In the battle for second place, Geoff Argyle of New Zealand is
\nnow on 42 points, followed by Valimaki's teammate Katsuhiro
\nTaguchi of Japan with 38 points. Japanese Toshi Arai, who skipped
\nthe race, drops to fourth with 35 points.<\/p>\n
\"I'm very happy at the moment. It has been a very good five
\nrallies for us ... also here. We won the rally and the
\nchampionship,\" Valimaki, who did not participate in the preceding
\nleg in Malaysia, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"The weather is very hot here. We tried to weather the heat as
\nmuch as we could. We tried all the time not to take too many
\nrisks, stay on the clear line but drive very fast and
\nconcentrate.\"<\/p>\n
The Finn, who turned 31 on Saturday, admitted that racing
\nhalfway across the world from his family was not his preferred
\nway to spend his birthday.<\/p>\n
\"It was a very lonely day since I was here, but ... that is
\nnot important anymore.\"<\/p>\n
Ahead by 57 seconds going into Sunday's final race, Valimaki
\nkept the pace to book the fastest times in the first two opening
\nstages on special stage (SS) 9 and SS 10 at the Bili-Bili
\nsugarcane plantations.<\/p>\n
He slowed down in the final three stages, with Katsuhiro then
\nmoving up from two places to first to cut the buffer to 38
\nseconds.<\/p>\n
Argyle of the Silverstone team clocked the third fastest time
\nin each of the five stages to cling to third.<\/p>\n
\"I had an engine problem yesterday. It's not so bad today. I'd
\nlove to have won the race but I'm still happy with the result,\"
\nKatsuhiko said.<\/p>\n
Valimaki said he would still honor his racing commitments
\nbecause he wanted to help compatriot Jarrko Kalliolepo win the
\nco-drivers's championship. The next leg is in Thailand next
\nmonth, with the final rally in China.<\/p>\n
Local drivers battled among themselves on Sunday, with Hery
\nAgung leading his Bosowa Rally teammate Subhan Aksa to the two
\ntop spots among national riders.<\/p>\n
Rifat Sungkar, who took fourth place in Malaysia, dropped from
\nfourth to sixth place after problems with his Proton Pert.<\/p>\n
Rifat, who had a handy buffer over his national rivals going
\ninto Sunday, clocked the fourth fastest time on SS 9. But he was
\nforced to slow down with a break in his shock absorber on SS 12,
\nstrikingly similar to the problems that handed last year's
\nnational championship title to rival Hery.<\/p>\n
The Pertamina Prima XP driver was lucky to force his car
\nthrough to the finish this time.<\/p>\n
\"Returning home from Malaysia, I was resolved that the
\ncountry's pride was at stake here, so I targeted a place on the
\npodium but my car was damaged,\" Rifat said.<\/p>\n
He is still in a strong position to win the national
\nchampionship on 53 points, with the final leg to held in West
\nJava in November.<\/p>\n
Defending champion Hery leapt to second place with 43 points,
\npushing Rifat's younger brother Rizal, who was forced to abandon
\nthe race on Saturday, into third with 32 points.<\/p>",
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