Medan rally route modified on FIA's rules

JAKARTA (JP): The International Automotive Federation's (FIA) new rules state that the routes for the World Rally Championship, including Rally Indonesia in Medan, North Sumatra, must be reduced from 28 special stages to 22.

Elwin Siregar, an official of the Indonesia Rally Foundation, said the world championship series' 11th leg in Medan from Nov. 17 to Nov. 19 would be 400 kilometers long. This is the second time the world event has been staged in Indonesia.

In the third series last year, the Medan route was 500 kms long with 28 stages.

Based on the FIA's new rules, prizes should be awarded on the day that rallies end.

Local organizers of car rallies usually award prizes the day after a championship ends, when most competitors have gone home.

The foundation has surveyed the Medan route to plan the special stages.

At this year's rally, drivers will not go through the special stages from Parapat, including Sibolangit, Balige, Aek Nauli and Huta Tonga. They will pass coconut and rubber plantations instead.

The foundation is convinced that the shorter route will not affect the championship's prestige.

Antara said the rally had a good writeup in the 1996 FIA bulletin, featuring pictures of the rally and also local tourist resorts. (yan)