Rifat, Herry lead fight for 2005 Rally Indonesia crown

Rifat, Herry lead fight for 2005 Rally Indonesia crown

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Defending champion Herry Agung and current leader Rifat are
bracing for a neck-and-neck challenge in the final leg of the
Gudang Garam International Rally Indonesia 2005 from Pasir Bungur
to Subang, West Java, next week.

Rifat of the Pertamina Rally Team tops the standings with 53
points, followed by Herry of the Bosowa Rally Team with 43
points. Rifat's brother, Rizal, is in third with 32 points.

With maximum points of 20 awarded to the winner, 13 for
runner-up and 10 for a third-place finisher, Rifat will just need
to finish a runner-up to ensure the championship.

However, Herry has not lost hope yet and said he was ready to
win the final leg.

"We are optimistic that we can win the race this year although
we are ten points behind the leader, Rifat," he said here on
Friday.

"We have prepared our car a lot better than in the previous
legs and we are physically in better shape," he said.

Herry's co-driver, Hade Mboy, said the current gap between the
leader and his team was closer than those in 2003 and 2004.

"In 2003, we were 20 points behind the leader Chandra Alim,
but we triumphed at the end, last year we were 12 points behind
the leader Rifat but we won," Hade said.

"So with a ten-point gap at present, we are sure that we can
still win the national title," he added.

Rifat was not present at the press conference. Representing
the driver, co-driver M. Herkusuma said that despite the huge
lead, they were far from complacent.

"There are a lot of factors that may prevent us from becoming
champions. We don't want them to occur so we will be focused and
fight our best," he said.

The rally will be staged over two days on Nov. 26 and 27,
consisting of 12 special stages and covering a total distance of
315.22 kilometers.

Race committee deputy chairman Poedjo Bintoro said organizers
had registered about 20 cars for the race.

Poedjo said next year's race would also have four legs.

"The first leg will be held in Palembang from April 7 to April
9, followed by the second leg from June 23 to June 25 in Medan,
the third leg from Sept. 15 to Sept. 17 in Makassar, and Dec. 15-
17 in Pecatu, Bali," he said.

Like this year, the Makassar race will serve as a round in the
2006 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship.