Heat, high humidity big obstacles in rally championship
Heat, high humidity big obstacles in rally championship
JAKARTA (JP): Scorching heat and high humidity over Sumatra's
rubber and palm oil plantations will challenge the men and
machines trying to conquer the 11th round of the Gudang Garam
World Rally Championships next week in Medan.
Most of the world rated rally drivers from European countries
agree that Indonesian rallies are the toughest in the world.
Mitsubishi Ralliart driver Tommi Makinen of Finland, teammate
Richard Burns of England; Kenneth Eriksson of Sweden and
Scotland's Colin McRae (Subaru); Spain's Carlos Sainz and Juha
Kankunnen of Finland (Ford Escort); and Toyota driver Didier
Auriol of France will find the going in Medan more challenging
than the first ten events.
High temperatures and astonishing humidity mean that drivers
need a high level of fitness to succeed, while the distinct
possibility of tropical storms can make the rubber and palm oil
plantation tracks in North Sumatra as slippery as any stage of
the Monte Carlo or Swedish Rallies.
If it is dry, on the other hand, the 22 Special Stages can be
extremely rough.
Makinen's brilliant victory in Finland on Aug. 31 has taken
him a giant step toward retaining his World Rally Championship
title and strengthened Mitsubishi's position in the
manufacturers' series.
The Finnish driver and navigator Seppo Herjanne will be one of
the favorites in the Medan Rally from Sept. 19 to Sept. 21.
The three-day event starts and finishes in the bustling
industrial city of Medan, bordering the Malacca Strait, but much
of the event is concentrated to the southwest, near the tourist
resort of Parapat, which borders Lake Toba.
The first leg starts on Sept. 19 and has eight stages totaling
137 kilometers. The second leg loops around Parapat and also has
eight stages, covering 149 kilometers.
The final day takes crews back to Medan and is a little
shorter, but its six stages make up 115 kilometers. And the
drivers cannot relax because the rally is such that even the
final kilometers can have a sting in the tail.
"It is a particularly difficult rally, because of the heat and
wet conditions. If it is wet and muddy, you need a car with good
torque, which suits Mitsubishi very well. Tire choice is
absolutely critical, because the weather can change so fast. I
think the event is a bit of a lottery, because of the weather.
The toughest leg will be the wettest," predicted Team Mitsubishi
Ralliart Manager Phil Short.
Tracking system
Organizing committee spokesman Helmy Sungkar said in Medan
yesterday that a tracking system would be installed in each
participating car to monitor its whereabouts during the race.
"We will also provide a transponder and a repeater on an
airplane. The airplane will circle the tracks with the repeater
sending signals to the rally command at the rally headquarters,"
Helmy said.
Meanwhile, the national car Timor has received accreditation
from the International Automobile Federation, FIA, to participate
in the rally's Group N class.
Johnny Pramono of the Johnny Motor Sport association said
Thursday that 15 Timors have been registered in the Group N
class.
"I will use my own specially designed car in the race. My car
will be fixed by the A Kong 20/20 Workshop crew which will design
the car's body and interior, A Miau Motorsport for the machine
and Asuk Asie Candi Naga for the transmission," Johnny said, who
will team up with navigator Komar Johari from Malaysia.
Timor received accreditation from the federation on Sept. 1,
1997 it was signed by G. Cardinger. (rsl/lnt)