Medan community greets world rally c'ship
Medan community greets world rally c'ship
MEDAN (JP): Locals welcomed the world rally championships
which will start here in this North Sumatra city today.
"The community are enthusiastic and proud that Medan will hold
a rally of world caliber. They now understand what rally means,"
regional government spokesman Sofyan Nasution told The Jakarta
Post yesterday.
Sofyan further said that the regional government had chipped
in to help make the rally a success.
"The regional government will help provide all the rally
drivers' facilities."
The North Sumatra government threw a party for the rally teams
Wednesday night which was highlighted by music from well-known
singers.
Basjrul Kamal of the provincial tourism department said that
there were more tourists in Medan because of the rally.
"The number of foreign visitors has increased drastically
because of the rally. Twenty star-rated hotels are fully booked,"
he said.
Rain is still expected to hit the South Sumatra. Medan's
meteorology and geophysics office predicts rain will strike the
track.
Smoke from burned forest has also become a problem for Medan.
But it is hoped that the rain shower will wipe out the smoke.
The Gudang Garam World Rally Championships will see local and
world class drivers battle for top honors.
Among the world class drivers are Tommi Makinen of Finland,
Carlos Sainz (Spain), Colin McRae (England), Richard Burns
(England), Kenneth Eriksson (Scotland), Juha Kakunen (Finland),
Didier Auriol (France), Erwin Weber (Germany), Neal Bates
(Australia), Wayne Bell (Australia), Yoshihiro Kataoka (Japan)
and Karamit Singh (Malaysia). They have all confirmed their
participation in the three-day rally.
Sainz won last year in Medan on May 12. He finished second
behind Makinen in the world rally championships in Finland.
Local drivers include Tonny Hardianto, Hutomo Mandala Putra,
Ricardo Gelael, Bambang Hartono and Arief Indiarto.
The drivers will race 402.47 kilometers in 22 stages. The 22
stages will be divided into three legs.
Leg one, today, will cover a stretch of 137.72 kilometers and
run over eight stages.
Leg two, scheduled for tomorrow will take the racers over
149.07 kilometers and eight stages before stopping for the second
night at beautiful Lake Toba.
The third and final leg, on Sunday, will take the drivers
115.68 kilometers, through six stages, back to the finishing line
in Medan's Merdeka Square.
The world class rally drivers and their teams have booked
1,200 hotel rooms.
An exhibition of the latest Indonesian cars, and racing cars
used by top world class racers is being held in Merdeka Square.
It ends today. (21/lnt)