Singh wins Rally Indonesia

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Malaysian racer and top seed Karamjit Singh and navigator Allen Goh won the final stage of the Gudang Garam Rally Indonesia here on Sunday.

Singh, driving the Proton PERT, finished first with a total time of 3:01:00.5. He led from the first day of the race on March 31 in the Special Stage (SS) 1 until SS11 on Sunday.

Chandra Alim/Prihatin Kasiman (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III) won second place with a time of 3:05:54.5 and Aga Kartiwa/Margo Sarwono (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV) in third timing 3:11:47.9.

Singh, who has for the past three years won a number of rallies in Malaysia, showed he was better than the other 18 drivers. In the SS11, Singh roared along the hilly track at top speed, astonishing spectators.

Only 18 of the 29 racers survived in the three-day race. Tinton Soeprapto with his navigator Rio Sarwono withdrew from the race because of engine trouble with his Mitsubishi Evo II.

Rifat Sungkar also withdrew from the race after his car collided with Abdi Arif at Sialang Lama village, Tanjung Morawa. Rifat, who is the son of organizer Helmy Sungkar, just completed SS6 (Batu Ginting) and was about to start SS7. Abdi was racing to finish SS5.

Abdi's car suddenly appeared in front of Rifat's car at the curve and they collided. "It was surprise to both of us," Rifat said.

The Gudang Garam Rally Indonesia which ended on Sunday is the first stage of the Asia-Pacific rally series. (39)