Eighth leg of SEA car race to start

JAKARTA (JP): Sentul international track will once again host the eighth leg of the South East Asia Touring Car championship due to start tomorrow.

Thailand's racer Man Manit took the lead with his Mercedes- Benz by clocking 31:57.67 and collecting a total of 95 points in the seventh stop of the championship. His closest rival, Charles Kwan from Hong Kong, who drives a BMW, gathered 82 points both in the first division of the 2,500 cc.

In the eighth leg, Manit and Kwan will be challenged by their compatriots, Thailand's R. Prutirat and Hong Kong's Henry Lee Jr., said Richard Hendarmo, the chairman of the championship.

As for the second (1,601-2,500cc) and third (under 1,600cc) divisions, Hendarmo said, a number of home drivers such as Tommy Santosa, Jimmy Lukita, Indra Saksono, Richard Wuisan and Art Sasabone will also take part in the race.

Tommy, Jimmy and Indra will be behind the wheels of a Toyota Starlet, Wuisan on a BMW and Sasabone on a Honda. In the previous seventh leg, Wuisan won the second class by clocking 32:36.49 and Indra was the champion in the third division by clocking 33:09.13.

Gatot Teguh Arifianto, of the organizing committee, said the eighth leg, which will last for two days, will be filled with supercars (tailor-made) and Porsches.

About 70 cars will take part in the event, Gatot said, adding that the participants come from Thailand, Australia, Macao, Singapore and Chinese Taipei. (arf)