World's rally drivers to chase victory in Medan

World's rally drivers to chase victory in Medan

JAKARTA (JP): Current world and Asia-Pacific Rally champions,
Colin McRae (Great Britain) and Kenneth Eriksson (Sweden) will be
gunning for victory in the Medan World Rally competition.

They took first and second position in Rally of Indonesia last
year.

Both will be driving Subaru Imprezas in their return to North
Sumatra. The third 555 Subaru driver in the race will be Italian
Piero Liatti.

This is Liatti's first appearance in the rally.

This year, the Bank Utama Rally Indonesia is not just a
qualifying round for the Asia-Pacific championship. it is also
Asia's first World Rally Championship.

Capitalizing on the double championship opportunity, Eriksson
will undoubtedly be keen to overhaul World series leader, Tommi
Makinen, while intensifying the close-fought battle between
himself and teammate McRae in the Asia-Pacific stakes.

"There is a lot to go on this rally," McRae said. "A win by
either Makinen, Colin or me could prove significant in the World
Championship. Previous experience doesn't count for a lot in this
event either, if it rains it will be a lottery because the roads
turn to mud and there are no rocks to get any grip. It's
difficult to describe quite how slippery it can be."

Humidity

Starting from North Sumatra's capital, Medan, the three-day
rally (May 10-May 12) uses bush tracks and plantation roads to
the east and southeast of the city and around scenic Lake Toba.
As well as the extremely high temperatures -- last year reaching
over 40 degrees Celsius -- the event is renowned for its extreme
humidity, constantly in the high 90s.

The tracks themselves are punishing, with long fast sections,
many blind crests and enormous jumps, which are extraordinarily
rough on suspension and transmission components and can smash a
car with one heavy landing.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IIIs, which have undergone
extensive testing there recently, are proven able to withstand
such conditions.

FIA World Championship leader after two rounds, Makinen aims
to keep his 100 percent win record intact on the third round of
the series in Medan, driving his Swedish and Safari Rally winning
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III.

Makinen, who finished third on his first visit to Indonesia
last year, said "This is a tough rally, but we've just won the
Safari in the Lancer and that is the toughest rally of all, so I
am very confident."

After celebrating his historic win in the Safari Rally last
month, Makinen, with co-driver Seppo Harjanne, heads to Indonesia
with Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, which leads the FIA World Rally
Championship for Manufacturers, with the support of Richard Burns
in a Lancer Evolution III. (rsl)