Gudang Garam International Rally Indonesia 2008 approaching battle on first leg

Numbers of international and national competitor have already stated their well-preparation on the first leg of Gudang Garam International Rally Indonesia 2008 round three, which is also the fifth round of The Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) series, located in the sugar plantation of Takalar, Makassar, South Sulawesi, which starts on Saturday (23/8).

The preparations were seen on the Ceremonial Start held in the shore-platform of Losari Beach, Makassar, Friday night (22/8). Most of them showed optimistic during the ceremony which was attended by representative of the Federazione Internationale Automobile (FIA) Fred Gallagher, and the chief of Indonesia Motorsport Association (IMI) Ari Batubara.

The first leg will be started on Saturday (23/8) at 07.00 Eastern-Indonesian Time, covering the track contains 8 Special Stages (SS) with 135,88 km in distance in Masamaturu, Pangkajene, Parang Baddo, and Borong Karamasa.

There are 27 drivers on this event, which supposed to be 28 drivers. One resigned driver is Ijeck/Uche from Bla Bla Bla 128 Falken Team from Medan, North Sumatera due to some problem on his professional job.

Cody Crocker, the champion of APRC 2007, which until the fourth round still sit on second rank of the provisional classification of APRC 2008 series, stated that he’s prepared to perform and score some good results on the first day of the rally. For Cody himself, the Takalar stages is already familiar for him because he had performed here last year. "Obviously, I’m trying hard to win here," said Cody.

At the same time, the national driver, Ricardo Gelael, though suffered from some stomach problem, still made it to the Ceremonial Start. However, he’s not yet ready to confirm 100 % of fitness on the first leg. "We’ll see tomorrow," said the driver also known as Kadok, the 2006 national rally champion.

On the contrary, Rifat Sungkar, the young Indonesian driver, also the 2007 national rally champion, stated that he’s perfectly fit. "I’m performing my best here. Hopefully I can score some good results." said the older brother of Rizal Sungkar.

Same condition with Rifat, driver Akbar Harianto also shows that he is ready to fight. He gives credit to the track. "Now, the current track is much better than previous year. And like the other drivers, I definitely want to achieve the best." said Akbar.

Different from last year, this year Bloedus Management Indonesia (BMI) as the organizer, has seriously prepared alll the standard-needs, from the traffic, safety on the Special Stages, service park complex, to the infrastructure, so the track will be more appropriate to the standards of World Rally Championship (WRC).

- Willy Weyens-  also photos