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)