Medan Rally set to test the world's drivers skills

Medan Rally set to test the world's drivers skills

By Robert Soelistyo

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Rain that turns the gravel roads
into slippery, muddy dirt-tracks looked to be the first obstacle
for rally drivers to overcome in the FIA World Rally Championship
due to start here this morning.

Twenty seven Special Stages (SS) are planned in three legs,
covering 461km in a total of 1,289km, looping from this
provincial capital to Lake Toba.

"The stages are very difficult, especially if it's raining.
There are some bad jumps and nasty crests so I'm sure we'll have
some big surprises during the rally," said World Champion Carlos
Sainz of Spain. Sainz is making his debut in the rally which most
drivers label "one of the world's most challenging races because
of the tricky tracks".

Sainz has been in Medan for ten days to get a feel of the
track and the conditions in the area before today's event.

Also making his debut in the Bank Utama Rally Indonesia 1996,
the third World Rally Championships series, is Juha Kankkunen of
Finland. He makes his return to the 1996 WRC in a Toyota GT-Four
under the banner of Toyota Castrol Australia.

The 37-year-old veteran Finn contested the opening round of
the series in Sweden, finishing fourth. Kankkunen missed the
second round of the series in the Safari Rally in Kenya as local
driver Ian Duncan drove the single Toyota Celica to third place
in the grueling event.

Kankkunen is glad to be back in action. "It was a little
difficult to sit back and follow how the rally was going in Kenya
and I'm pleased that Toyota Australia has supported our entry in
Indonesia," Kankkunen said.

Of the scheduled 67 cars registered on the entry list only 64
were lined up yesterday in Merdeka Square for scrutiny by the
rally committee.

The three cars missing, which will therefore not compete in
the rally, are Subaru Impreza 555, number 14, owned by Hutomo
Mandala Putra, the Audi Coupe S-2 originally to be driven by Ary
Harywibowo (Hutomo's nephew) and the Ford Escort RS Crosworth
which was originally to be driven by Indra Rukmana. Indra is
Hutomo's brother-in-law.

"They have decided not to take part in the rally saying the
time was not ripe yet, so soon after the death of Mrs. Tien
Soeharto," a source at the rally committee said.

Scotland the brave

Scottish defending champion Colin McRae, on a 555 Subaru, who
will be in pole position, said he was not the least bit worried.
"Yes, there is nothing to worry about with Kankkunen and Sainz
although their skills are undoubted. The people I'm most worried
about are my teammates Kenneth Eriksson (Sweden), and Piero
Liatti (Italy)," McRae said.

The 555 Subaru Imprezza team conducted an outstanding welcome
ceremony for its drivers at Maemoon Palace, one of the main
attractions of Medan.

McRae, the sport's youngest World Champion, returns here
confident in his and his team's ability to overcome the
formidable combination of searing heat, challenging surfaces and
tricky stages that take the international crews through the
tropical plantations of Northern Sumatra. McRae nevertheless has
no illusions that victory will come easily.

Indonesia's chances of doing well are affected by Hutomo's no-
show. Hutomo, the youngest son of President Soeharto, had been
tipped as the most likely home driver to challenge the confident
foreign drivers after his tremendous performance on the local
scene.

Thirty one local rally-drivers -- a blend of veterans and
young bloods -- will start today, including veteran driver Dolly
Indra Nasution with navigator Farryd Sungkar and Tinton Suprapto
and co-driver Dally Sofari. The young hopes will be brothers
Dandy and Denny Rukmana, two of Soeharto's grandchildren. Dandy
will be in a Ford Escort RS Crosworth with co-driver Supie
Sabastian, a journalist of a popular sports tabloid.

FIA World Rally Championship leader of Team Mitsubishi
Ralliart said that the team was ready to meet the challenge of
tomorrow's race.

Two Group A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IIIs are entered for
Drivers' Championship leaders Tommi Makinen and co-driver Seppo
Harjanne, both from Finland, and Richard Burns and Robert Reid
from Great Britain.

Makinen and Harjanne start as favorites after winning the
opening two rounds of the world series, while Burns and Reid are
contesting the rally as part of their FIA Asia-Pacific Rally
Championship program of which the Rally of Indonesia is the
second round.