Mitsubishi dominates Mesran Junior rally

JAKARTA (JP): Five local racers, all driving Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IVs dominated the top spots in the second leg of the Mesran Junior rally at the Subang tea plantation in West Java on Sunday.

The racers sped through seven special stages covering 86.59 kilometers, passing the Subang tea plantation and finishing in Bandung, West Java.

Rifat Sungkar with his navigator M. Herkusuma led the dominating pack of Mitsubishi Lancers with a time of 1:06.25.

Yaldi Indra/Herry Kuntoyo were second with a time of 1:07.23, followed by Akbar Hadianto/Rino Sadikin (1:10.47) in third place, Nieko M. Yudha/Faisal (1:11.00) in fourth and Febril S.A./Uke N. (1:13.45) in fifth.

Yaldi won the first leg and was placed second when his car's carburetor was damaged and filled with dust.

"Even though we had a problem with our car, we're still satisfied with second place," Yaldi said.

Gandi/H. Adang, also in a Mitsubishi Lancer, had to be satisfied with seventh place clocking 1:17.34. Sixth place went to Iman/Robby P., in a Toyota Corolla GT, with a time of 1:16.56.

Another team, Rinaldi P./Aldin P. could not continue the race because their clutch broke and the car hit a tree at a sharp curve just after the beginning of the first special stage. (lnt)