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.