Rifat Sungkar wins BSD Sprint Rally

JAKARTA (JP): Rally driver Rifat Sungkar fulfilled one of ambitions in winning the third leg of the Mesran Prima BSD Sprint Rally at Bumi Serpong Damai, Tangerang, Sunday.

The victory means Rifat will win the four-leg annual BSD rally as none of his challengers can overhaul his points total in the final race next month.

Rifat, together with navigator Danradana, clocked the fastest time of exactly 13 minutes in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III in two special stages of 10 kilometers.

Rifat was three seconds faster than his rival M. Bintang/M. Herkusuma. Akbar Hadianto/Rino Sadikin in their Jeep Wrangler were third, clocking 13:05.00.

Sunday's rally was held at the Tachno Park circuit and featured 92 local rally drivers and navigators.

Rifat is a son of former rally driver and motor sports promoter Helmy Sungkar. With this victory, Rifat took his points total to 60 after the third leg. Irvan Gading Yaldy/Herry Koentoyo, who had 30 points after the second leg, only came fourth on Sunday, earning them only an additional eight points.

This means that he cannot catch Rifat in the fourth, and last, leg which will take place at the same circuit in December.

On the same day Firhand Ali won the Formula A class of the national Go Kart Mesrania 2T Enviro 97 in the car park of the Mandala Krida Stadium in Yogyakarta.

Firhand's victory took his points tally to 54 points after the six legs held this year. The seventh and last leg will be held at Sentul, near Bogor in November.

Arya Setyaki came second and leads the rankings with 86 points. Firhand's brother Michael Ali was third and is second behind Arya with 82 points.

The Formula A national race is a combination of the gearbox categories Domestic, Intercontinental A, Intercontinental C Clubmen and International C.

The race attracted many automotive fans and organizer Helmy Sungkar was satisfied with the outcome of the day.

"I am satisfied with the racers' performances and the participation of the community in watching this event," Helmy said Sunday, as quoted by Antara. (lnt)