The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - NCR stories
MRF team make cautious
start in Canberra rally New Delhi, May 3 The start was a colourful affair with cricketer Steve Waugh flagging off the cars in the morning. The Australian cricket captain, MRFs brand ambassador, flew into Canberra as a confidence booster for the Indian drivers. MRF vice-president and managing director KM Mammen was also present. Naren finished with a total time penalty of 52 min 33.4 sec to emerge 16th fastest in his group (N4) and 24th fastest overall among a highly acclaimed field of international rally drivers that included names like Possum Bourne, Ed Ordynski and Niki Caldarola. Its been a revelation, said Naren. We know where we stand. Its a learning process for us. The jump from Asian Zone, which we won last year, to Asia Pacific, has been a big one. It has been tough too considering we had very little time for development work and getting used to the car. But we are doing good. Theres a lot of work to be done if we want to beat the best guys in the world. Still, Naren was better-off than team-mate Arjun whose day one heroics came to nought when his turbo-charger blew on the third special stage. Theres nothing much I can do, shrugged Arjun. Nevertheless, its been a good outing. Im very comfortable with the four-wheel-drive cars. Well continue with the rally for the next two days and try to get some mileage and experience. And not without reason. Surprisingly, Arjun set faster times than his more prolific team-mate Naren on the first two stages. All this despite driving an all-new car and a new co-driver. Arjuns regular companion Kumar Ramaswamy withdrew his name following a bad bout of sore throat just prior to the rally. Australian Darryl Judd replaced the ailing Kumar and they seemed to be doing a pretty good job, that is till the turbocharger conked off. Meanwhile, Mitsubishis Australian driver Ordynski took the overall lead at the end of the day, albeit just six seconds ahead of compatriot Cody Crocker in a Subaru. Bourne of New Zealand, the two-time and reigning champion here, looking for a hat trick of wins was third but only 0.2s behind Crocker. Karamjit Singh, the reigning APRC champion and fresh from his WRC Group N win at Cyprus, was the most prolific retirement following a gearbox problem. Italian Niki Caldarola also failed to live up to pre-event expectation slipping down to 11th falling prey to the local drivers home advantage.
Our Sports Reporter
Team MRF drivers Naren Kumar and Arjun Balu made a steady but cautious start to the Subaru Rally of Canberra, first round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), at the Australian capital, according to information available here.
