Spaniard Sainz triumphant at 1996 Indonesian rally

By Robert Soelistyo

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Carlos Sainz of Spain, making his debut at the Rally of Indonesia 1996, the third in the World Rally series, overcame unfavorable track conditions to win the race in five hours 30 minutes flat yesterday.

"It's a great morale booster for everyone on the Ford team to win this rally, winning is always a great feeling. For everybody on the team that has worked so hard to achieve it, we should enjoy it. I hope we can keep improving because there's a lot of development work still to do with the car," said an elated Sainz.

Trailing in either second or third position since the start of the third and final leg yesterday, Sainz surged ahead of the leader Juha Kankkunen during Special Stage 25 (SS25).

Fielding three cars in the three-day event with the other two driven by Gwyndaf Evans/ Howard Davies, Dandy Rukmana/ Sufie Sabastian, Dandy dropped out after the third SS, while Evans quit after the second stage on Saturday.

Second was the pair of Italians Piero Liatti and Fabrizia Pons in a 555 Subaru Imprezza. They clocked 5 hours 30 minutes and 23 seconds.

Kankkunnen kept the lead after producing five consecutive wins in the SS19 through SS24. However, his spectacular attempt was abruptly ended in the SS25.

After a tense and dramatic final day, during which three different drivers led the race, Kankkunen finished third for Toyota Castrol Team Australia. The Celica GT-4 driver fought a stirring battle for the lead with rivals Sainz and Liatti when a heavy landing after a jump damaged his car. The Finn was forced to settle for third place.

Yoshio Fujimoto brought his Tein Sport GT4 home in fourth place, just ahead of the Toyota Castrol Indonesia entry of Reza Pribadi, the top local driver.

Kankkunen inherited the lead in the race, held in intensely hot and humid conditions, when Briton Colin McRae in a 555 Subaru Imprezza crashed while taking a comfortable lead. In difficult and slippery conditions at the start of the final day, the Finn and his co-driver, Nicky Grist, held off their rivals until encountering the big jump on SS24.

"It's a disappointment not to win but third is good. I thought that Carlos might try hard to pass us for the lead but I was trying hard. After the jump the car landed on its nose, breaking the intercooler. The engine temperature rose and we had to slow down. It was really a tough event," admitted Kankkunen.

His strong showing moved him to the fifth spot in the World Driver Championship standings, equal with World Champion Colin McRae.

Irvan Gading and navigator Karel Harilatu in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III finished ninth with a time of 6hrs 15 min 55 sec.

Bambang Hartono and co-driver Agung Baskoro became the third Indonesian driver from the Guru team to finish among the top 10. Driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III in Group N, Bambang clocked 6hrs 21 min 20 sec.

Dolly Indra Nasution and navigator Farryd Sungkar, who were in sixth place after the second leg on Saturday, were forced to quit the race after their Ford Escort succumbed to engine trouble at SS17.

Leading results: 1. Carlos Sainz (Spa) Ford Escort RS 5:30.00 2. Piero Liatti (Ita) 555 Subaru Impreza 5:30.23 3. Juha Kankkunen (Fin) Toyota Celica 5:31.02 4. Yoshio Fujimoto (Jpn) Toyota Celica 5:49.44 5. Reza Pribadi (Ina) Toyota Celica 6:05.17 6. Michael Liu (HK) Subaru 6:07.22 7. Karanjit Singh (Mal) Proton Wira 6:13.40 8. Shigeyuki Konishi (Jpn) Subaru Impreza 6:15.08 9. Irvan Gading (Ina) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III 6:15.55 10. Bambang Hartono (Ina) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III 6:21.20

Standings: 1. Tommi Makinen (Fin) 40 pts 2. Carlos Sainz (Spa) 35 3. Kenneth Eriksson (Swe) 23

Piero Liatti (Ita) 23 5. Colin McRae (Gbr) 22

Juha Kankkunen (Fin) 22