Hutomo gears up for Petronas rally

JAKARTA (JP): Leading Indonesian rally driver Hutomo Mandala Putra and codriver Tony Sircombe will start from the 11th position in the Petronas Rally Malaysia today.

The rally is the third round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. The 51 cars come from Australia, Chinese Taipei, England, South Korea, New Zealand, Sweden, Thailand, Indonesia and host Malaysia.

Starting in the poll position is Kenneth Eriksson of Sweden in a Subaru. Behind him is Richard Burns of England driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III. Starting in third and fourth are Pierro Liati of Italy in a Subaru, and Kenjiro Shinzuka of Japan in a Lancer Evolution III.

Hutomo, competing for the Goro team, has been surveying parts of the 370.5 kilometer route together with his New Zealand teammates Possum Bourne and Craig Vincent. They started checking out the route last Sunday (June 9).

Hutomo, President's Soeharto youngest son, missed the World Rally Championship in Medan, North Sumatra last month. The rally was the second round of the Asia-Pacific series.

Hutomo's deputy team manager, Jeffrey J.P., was quoted by Antara as saying in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday that he expected Hutomo and teammates to finish among the top five.

"Their cars and everything are OK," Jeffrey said.

The rally starts on Jl. Raja in Kuala Lumpur at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The competing drivers will face 10 special stages covering 136 km before finishing at the Concorde Hotel at 8 p.m. to overnight in the capital.

The second and longest leg features 13 stages totaling 190 km. It starts from the Concorde Hotel at 7 a.m. on Sunday and finishes the same day at 8:20 p.m.

The third and final leg has just five special stages covering 70 km. It begins at the Concorde Hotel at 6 a.m. on Monday with the ceremonial finish on Jl. Raja at noon.

In total, rally survivors will have covered 28 special stages totaling 396 km. They will drive a total of 955 km.

Often run in high temperatures and oppressive humidity, the rally offers the challenge of fast, gravel tracks through rubber and palm oil plantations. The roads are transformed into slimy, mud-covered skating rinks during heavy rains. (arf)