'Rally XS' magazine launched

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian rallying community will have a new forum when the Rally XS bimonthly magazine hits the newsstands on Tuesday in an effort to spread more information on the World Rally Championship (WRC) series as well as local events.

"Currently, news coverage of the championship is very limited to short reports or even just results. There are so many behind- the-scene stories that are interesting to readers," chief editor Munawar Chalil said at the magazine's launch on Friday.

"We will also cover more local rallying events in the future. We expect local content to reach some 50 percent."

Published by PT Quadra Media Publika, the publication is the Indonesian version of a magazine licensed by the International Sportsworld Communication (ISC), an international business subsidiary of the world's autosports governing body, FIA.

The magazine will sell at Rp 20,000 (US$2.20) a copy and the publisher expects to sell some 30,000 copies of each edition.

The editorial staff includes rally driver Rifat Sungkar, who will have a special column on rallying as a guest editor. (nvn)