Hutomo gears up for Petronas rally

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)