The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Toshihiro Arai wins the Rally of Rotorua; Jussi Valimaki finishes second

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 20, 2005

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Toshihiro Arai wins the Rally of Rotorua; Jussi Valimaki finishes second

G. Venkat Ganeshan

ROTORUA: At last, the sun shone on the slushy terrain of Rotorua on Sunday. And so did Toshihiro Arai, driving his Subaru to pocket the Hella International Rally of Rotorua, the third round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship.

Team MRF Tyres' Jussi Valimaki (Jarkko Kalliolepo), more intent on finishing the rally than pushing hard, finished second — 2:29.4s behind the current leader of the Production Cars World Rally Championship and fourth overall.

Arai's onslaught did not stop even on the final day.

Despite leading Valimaki by more than one and a half minutes entering the final day, Arai (Tony Sircombe) didn't want to take it easy.

He pushed hard in the four stages of the day, occasionally fishtailing and kicking up the dust on the spectators. On certain occasions he appeared to be on the ragged edge and seemed to drive like a man possessed.

His aggression on the tarmac was only to be expected after his failure in securing even a single point so far in the season.

"I feel extremely happy after the disappointment in Australia," Arai said. "We had some new developments to the car and we were a little bit faster. I kept the speed throughout the rally."

Valimaki, on the other hand, didn't risk his championship chances by going overboard. He drove within the limits and settled for the second best spot on the podium.

In fact, Valimaki later revealed that he had a problem with the differential on the rear tyres at the Motu stage held on Saturday, which would've knocked him out of the race. However, the team solved the problem that allowed him to savour a handy 18-point lead over Argyle in the championship.

Looking disappointed after finishing second, Valimaki said, "we tried to push right from the first day and Toshi (Arai) was 0.1s slower than us.

"It was very difficult to sustain that speed. We didn't give up overall." Commenting on his championship chances, the Finn said, "every rally here (APRC) is new to me, so I do my best (to win). At the same time I have to also ensure my top spot in the APRC leaderboard. I don't know what to expect. But that won't stop me from pushing to the limit."

Valimaki's teammate, Katsuhiko Taguchi wrapped up the final podium position. He upstaged Valimaki in two of the four stages on Sunday. But his good work was undone in the final stage when he had two spins and lost time. Taguchi made the big leap in the overall standings. He

moved three places to finish fifth, just behind Valimaki.

APRC results (provisional): 1. Toshihiro Arai (Aus)/Tony Sircombe (GB), Subaru Impreza WRX, Toshihiro Arai, 2:54:31.5; 2. Jussi Valimaki/Jarkko Kalliolepo (Fin), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8, Team MRF Tyres, +2:29.4; 3. Katushiko Taguchi (Jpn)/Mark Stacey (Aus), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8, Team MRF Tyres, +4:02.4; 4. Geof Argyle/Jane Black (Nzl), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8, Silverstone Competition Tyres, +6:30.1; 5. Dermot Malley/Stephen Smith (Nzl), Mitsubishi Evo 8, M Rally Team, +18:41.1.

The points table after three rounds: 1. J. Valimaki 43, 2. G. Argyle 25, 3. T. Arai 16, 4. Chee Hong Kan 11, 4. K. Taguchi 11.

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