Jarkko Miettinen / Tuomo Nikkola
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
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Jarkko Miettinen / Tuomo Nikkola
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
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Katsuhiko Taguchi / Mark Stacey
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
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Hot and hard fought battle, rallying in extreme heat and choking dust the
MRF Mitsubishi team finished 2nd and 4th in the 6th round of the 2006 Asia
Pacific Rally Championship, the Gudang Garam Rally of Indonesia. Held on the
island of Sulawesi and based in the ancient port city of Makassar the Rally
of Indonesia is one of the toughest events in world rallying with ambient
temperatures exceeding 40 degrees, thick dust that makes breathing and
visibility difficult and roads that are soft, slippery and often rough.
Since setting the pace in Malaysia and a 1st and 2nd in Indonesia in 2005,
the MRF Mitsubishi team was expecting nothing less than a podium finish. In
the APRC drivers championship race, MRF driver Katsu Taguchi needed to win
here to have any chance of taking the title and his previous knowledge of
the event would be valuable data for the team. Team-mate Jarkko Miettinen
from Finland has proved in the last two events he has the potential to win
events in the new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and after a recent win in the very
competitive Chinese National Championship he was hungry for success.
After the ceremonial start in down-town Makassar it was Miettinen who set
the early pace and after 5 stages the top three drivers were separated by
only 1 second. After some slight alterations to the car set-up at mid-day
service and the faster flowing roads in the afternoon section, Miettinen
raced into an 11 second lead on the 6th stage. By the end of the leg he had
increased the margin to 23 seconds to his nearest APRC rival Subura Cody
Crocker. Back at the evening service and as the mechanics worked on his car
Miettinen said "We are very happy to be leading APRC, the roads suited us
today and we could push really hard with no mistakes. However tomorrow could
be difficult as the roads are tighter and twisty". Winning the leg netted
the Finn three valuable bonus for the drivers championship.
While Miettien was all smiles his team-mate Taguchi was having a terrible
time. A puncture near the start of Stage 5 meant stopping and replacing the
tyre in the stage, loosing the Japanese driver over three minutes. In the
afternoon Taguchi pushed his Mitsubishi to the limit, to make up the time
deficit but could get no higher than 4th. Any chance of taking the APRC
drivers title were effectively over for Taguchi, "Its OK to have a puncture
5 K from the finish, but when its near the start that’s bad luck - we had to
stop and change the tyre, then we waited for Jarkko to come and then
followed in his dust and now because of that loss of time I think the
championship is over, but we will push hard again tomorrow, anything can
happen. I don’t mind the hot conditions and tomorrow is expected to be over
40degrees".
With a new set of stages for Leg 2 near the town of Billi Billi and first
car on the road, Miettinen gave his all to try and extend his slender lead.
However niggling problems and the twistier and tighter roads didn’t suit the
Finn’s flat-out driving style and gradually the gap narrowed. At the
lunchtime service Miettinen had lost the lead, but only by 2 seconds. There
was still plenty to go for in the final two afternoon stages but on Stage 12
Miettinen hit a small rock, pending the suspension and with very high
temperatures inside and outside the car, the team backed off to preserve
their second place.
For Taguchi his troubles continued, but he held onto his 4th position. "For
me this has been a very tough event, the temperature was hot, but not as
much as last year, yet we had so many silly problems and very frustrating to
get a puncture when we were in such a good position. The car is good and
next event we gonna go for it -nothing to loose". Miettinen had similar
thoughts, " We’re so close to winning now and with the next event in China
this will give us a real opportunity - I am doing the Chinese National
Championship so I am very familiar with the conditions".
Other Mitsubishi drivers on the event include top Indonesian Rifat Sungkar
who was 5th in APRC and won the Indonesian Rally Championship section. He
was followed home by fellow Indonesia Subhan Aksa who was 6th in APRC.
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