Indian drivers win Palembang Rally
Indian drivers win Palembang Rally
PALEMBANG, South Sumatra (JP): Indians VR Naren Kumar and Dorairaj Ramkumar, driving under the banner of MRF team, grabbed the 2001 Gudang Garam International Rally title after finishing first with a time of one hour 36 minutes and 45 seconds in Indralaya, some 30 kilometers south of here, on Sunday.
In the second series of the Asian Championships, Kumar and Ramkumar -- who also grabbed the title in the first leg in Coimbatore, India -- drove Honda Civic Estilo to collect a total of 20 points.
"I can't take it for granted although I won the first two legs. I just want to concentrate and take one race at a time," Kumar told a post-rally conference.
"The track here is much more difficult especially when it rains."
Kumar and Ramkumar finished first in the first, second and three Special Stages in 10:21, 12:32, and 10:34 respectively to help them speed up to the finish line. They had two minutes and 14 seconds ahead of runner up Malaysians Karamjit Singh and Jagdev Singh.
The Singhs, who drove Proton Satria for Indian team of JK Tires, finished second in 1:38:59. They also finished second in the first serie.
The runners-up made their fastest time at the last five stages in 12:10, 14:23, 9:43, 11:53 and 13:53 respectively to give them a surplus of 2:31 to the defending champion.
"The stages were dry as we expected so we could drive as fast as possible. It will be very dangerous if it rained because the roads would have been very slippery," said Jagdev.
"We decided to use dry tires because it did not rain today."
Defending champion Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann of the MRF, also driving Proton Satria, only finished third in 1:41:30.
"It's a different story this year because I have to adjust myself with the Proton car. Besides, I must also compete with teammates the Singhs," said Hari, who finished third in the first serie.
Indonesians Yama Sarwono and Sugianto Gondokusumo finished fourth 1:50:48 to grab the national championships title. Indra Prasetyo and A. Faizal finished second with 1:52:06.
Nine participants failed to finish on Sunday due to technical problems leaving only 20 cars made it through the finish line from a total of 35 participants.
"Luckily, there were no accidents happened to the drivers. The problems were mainly technical such as overheated engines," organizer Helmy Sungkar told The Jakarta Post.
"It is usual in short races where participants tend to fight all-out. They would save their energy if the race was longer." (33/nvn)