Tony Hardiyanto retains national rally crown

Tony Hardiyanto retains national rally crown

JAKARTA (JP): Tony Hardianto overcame the grueling Gembala Sriwijaya track at Ogan Komering Ulu, South Sumatra, on Sunday to win the final leg of the national rally championship series.

The victory helped Tony, who triumphed in two hours, 20 minutes and 15 seconds, to retain his crown at the expense of closest title-pursuer Hutomo Mandala Putra.

Tony, who trailed Hutomo before the fifth and final leg of the series, topped the championship standings with total points of 62.5. Hutomo, or Tommy, was 12.5 behind to gain second place.

Tommy, seeking his first national rally championship crown, made an early quit from the race on Saturday due to mechanical problem.

Driving a Subaru Imprezza, Tony appeared to find no real challenge in completing the 16 special stages of the weekend's race, which covered 223.74 kilometers.

He finished at the Bumi Sriwijaya in Palembang two minutes and 26 seconds faster than closest rival Shendy Heryadi. Former national champion Ledi Kurnadi produced a superb comeback, but his total time remained three seconds off Shendy's.

"Everybody drove tremendously in this race, but lady luck a appeared to smile on me," Tony said.

Only 14 of the 23 participating drivers managed to complete the race.

In the class B competition, Ari H. and his co-driver Dimas Drajad set the pace from the outset to clock the best time of 2:31:20 for the title. Jony Pramono came a distant second with 2:55:51.

Results 1. Tony Hardianto/Anthony Sarwono 2:20:15 2. Shendy Heryadi/Lanang 2:22:41 3. Ledy Kurnadi/S. Sebastian 2:22:44 4. Dolly Indra N./Farid Sungkar 2:24:44 5. Okky Harwanto/Firman 2:29:39 6. Arief Indiarto/M. Aruman 2:37:25