Rifat Sungkar pips brother Rizal in Medan Rally

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Brothers Rifat and Rizal Sungkar continued their domination of the Gudang Garam National Rally Championship with a one-two finish in the Medan Rally.

Rifat, who trailed Rizal on Saturday's opening day, came back to finish first in a time of two hours, five minutes and 21 seconds. Rizal, who is three years younger at 25, was in second in 2:06:44.

Veteran driver Ricardo Gelael capitalized on a crash by reigning champion Herry Agung to grab third in 2:o9:57 in the rally, consisting of 13 special stages (SS) covering a total distance of 155.7 kilometers.

The brothers' top places were a repeat of the opening rally in Lampung.

Rizal, with navigator Anthony Sarwono, could have gone one better than Lampung after his outstanding Saturday, but his Mitsubishi suffered a puncture early on Sunday.

"The left front tire punctured after only a few hundred meters from the start at stage eight. The car could still run, but I could not go at optimum speed. I lost one minute," he said.

"I'd love to have won the race. But I'm happy that the team made it a one-two finish. It was a challenging race in my first experience here."

In fifth place in the eighth stage, Rizal recovered to win the ninth stage before deciding to play it safe from then on.

"It's a tough race, my first win in Medan. I'm very happy ... it's a team success," Rifat said.

Ricardo was pleasantly surprised to take third place after a dismal run on the opening day.

After 12 stages, the 48-year-old Subaru driver was level with Herry, who crashed early on Sunday, but turned on the speed to finish three seconds faster than the reigning champion.

"I'm lucky that Herry crashed which gave time to overhaul the deficit and take over his position," he said.

The drivers head to Makassar for the Asia Pacific Rally series in September, before ending the season in West Java in December.

Medan Rally top 10
1. Rifat Sungkar/M.Herkusuma (Pertamina Prima XP/Proton) 2:5:21
2. Rizal Sungkar/Anthony Sarwono (Pertamina Prima XP/Mitsubishi Evo IV) 2:5:44
3. Ricardo Galael/Hervian Soejono (KFC Rally Team/Subaru Impreza) 2:9:57
4. Herry Agung/Hade Mboi (Bosowa Rally Team/Mitsubishi Evo VI) 2:10:0
5. Subhan Aksa/Heru NS (Bosowa Rally Team/Mitsubishi Evo IV) 2:11:0
6. Sadikin Aksa/Mago Sarwono (Bosowa Rally Team/Mitsubishi Evo VI) 2:15:42
7. Chandra Alim/ Lanang Damarjati (KFC Rally Team/Mitsubishi Evo VI) 2:17:49
8. Deyu/Aris FH (Penzoil Motosport/Mitsubishi Evo III) 2:5:40 9. Hardy Sintorus/Nandha Oradhana (Eccentri/Mitsubishi Evo III) 2: 7:27
10.Rahmat A Santo/Rudi Hatibie (Bosowa Rally Team/Mitsubishi GTi) 2:10:56