The Hindu : Sport : Drivers wary after recce

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 13, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport

Drivers wary after recce

K. Keerthivasan

SINGAPORE: Six local drivers — Patrick Yanai, Patrick Christian, Jean Louis Leyraud, David Palau, Alexis Barbou and Robert Christian — will have an edge over their rivals in the first round of the Asia Pacific Car Rally Championship to be held in New Caledonia from April 13 to 15.

In normal circumstances, no driver is permitted to drive on the rally route before the race except for the official recce. But unlike other countries where the domestic championship is run at different venues, in New Caledonia there is only one set of stages for the national championship which is repeated several times, giving the local drivers several rounds of practice making them experts in their home turf. The advantage is obvious as besides the six APRC drivers, six local drivers have opted for the international category.

After the recce, several APRC drivers were not too happy with the terrain. In some stages there are three different types of surfaces making the choice of tyres difficult.

Katsuhiko Taguchi of Team MRF said, "Special Stage 12 repeated in Special Stage 14 in the second leg on Sunday may be the most difficult stage. It is the longest stage — 28.41km and is very twisty, slippery and dangerous."

Jussi Valimaki of Team MRF, who won the New Caledonia round and the championship in 2005 said this will be a challenging rally. Gaurav Gill of Team MRF, driving for the first time here, said "the second leg is muddy, technical and tight."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport