Singh leads Medan Rally

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Malaysian racer and top seed Karamjit Singh and navigator Allen Eoh are still leading in the 2000 World Gudang Garam Rally here as of the fourth special stage (SS) on Saturday evening.

Singh, who received blessings from Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad for participating in the rally, finished first in the 35.21-kilometer-long course in the SS1 and SS2 on Friday by clocking 00:25:38.1.

In the SS3 at the 23.11km Sei Merah coconut plantation, the Malaysian pair, driving a Proton Pert car, clocked 00:43:20.9. At SS4 in the 12.10km Batu Lokong area, they finished in 00:08:36.6.

Indonesian senior racer Chandra Alim, who partnered with Prihatin Kasiman in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO-III, trailed in second place after finishing 00:44:39.2 in the SS3 and 00:08:53.9 in the SS4.

Only 20 of the initial 25 racers still survived in the second day of the world championship.

Five racers tumbled on the first day, including national racing pairs Tinton Soeprapto/Rio Sarwono, Abdi Arif Harahap/Tony Sudana, Ismail Widjaya/Faisal, Tanda Sirait/Urmansyah and Ronni Krisnawan/Andre Nasution.

The SS5 will take place in Bagerpang area (16.43km) and SS6 in Batu Gingging area (11.10km). Racers will return to the service park before continuing the SS7 in Sei Merah and SS8 in Bagerpang, before they reach the finish line in the parking lot of Tiara Hotel Convention Hall. (39)