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RI drivers take podium in US and Europe
Wave the flag: Rifat Sungkar (left) and navigator Steve Lancaster took the third position at the New England Forest Rally on Saturday with 1:44:57
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span class="inline inline-center">Wave the flag: Rifat Sungkar (left) and navigator Steve Lancaster took the third position at the New England Forest Rally on Saturday with 1:44:57. Courtesy Fastron world rally team
Indonesian drivers Rifat Sungkar and Sean Gelael have taken third position in the New England Forest Rally (NEFR), part of the fifth series of Rally America on Saturday in Newry, Maine and the British F3 International at Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, Belgium, respectively.
Rifat came in at third place after clocking 1 hour, 44 minutes, 57 seconds. The top position was taken by America's Ken Block with 1:34:34 followed by Rally America's defending champion David Higgins with 1:34:40.
'There is great pride not only for me but for all Indonesians because today we have proved that Indonesia can make its mark on Rally America,' Rifat said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The NEFR competition features seven series but Rifat, who drives with Pertamina Fastron World Rally Team, only took part in five of them. He opted to skip the first two of the series. He finished in second place in the third series.
The two-day race comprises 13 special stages (SS), covering a total distance of some 200 kilometers, four SS in the opening day and nine in the second day.
'In the SS1 Concord Pond, we played it safe while our competitors who had become really familiar with the track kept speeding,' said Rifat, who only managed to take 11th position with 4:46.
According to Rifat, the race was tough for him and navigator Steve Lancaster due to the heavy rain a day earlier that caused muddy and uneven conditions at the race track and left fallen trees.
Manager of the Fastron World Rally Team, M. Indra Prasetyo, said Rifat and Steve had been studying videos of the track survey so that they could make accurate pace notes.
Even though Rifat said he found difficulties in several of the SS in the first day of the race, he managed to catch up in the last two ' SS12 Hampshire Hills South and SS13 North Road ' despite the tough competition from David Sterckx.
'Thank God, our team managed to take the podium in third place. I hope we can do even better in the next races,' Rifat said.
In Belgium, 16-year-old Sean picked a path through treacherous wet conditions in the first race of the weekend to add to his two podium finishes from the opening round at Silverstone.
Combined with his other two results from Spa, this result moves him up to fourth place in the overall British F3 championship.
'I'm glad that I can earn extra points from recording the fastest lap. This was such an extraordinary week for me. This circuit is very difficult,' he said as quoted by Antara news agency.
Sean is gearing up for the next race at Brands Hatch on Aug. 10-11.
