Screeching tyres and gorgeous cars were in full display
this afternoon. The Flag-off ceremony of the fifth and the final round
of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) 2003 took place
in Mumbai.
Preceded by a short but well-choreographed dance act, Armin Kremer
and Fred Bressen of Team MRF, the leaders in Group N drove up the
ramp in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 and were flagged off by the
deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Chhagan Bhujbal, followed
by Austrian David Doppelreiter and Ola Floene, also of Team MRF and
NewZealanders Geof Argyle and Steve Smith, overall leaders.
A total of 11 foreign cars were followed by 14 cars of the Indian
National Rally Championship and were led down Marine Drive in a parade
before setting off for Pune, where the rally will be run in and around
Panshet, about 40 kms from Pune.
The event at Pune takes place from 5-7 December. The drivers will
have to navigate their way through 250 km of dirt track in 13 stages.
The rally will start tomorrow at 9 am at the government engineering
college in Pune and will end at the monumental "seat of the
Peshwas" (Maratha rulers).
At the flag off ceremony Maharashtra Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal was
the guest of honour. He flagged off the first set of APRC cars from
the ramp. The drivers were garlanded with flowers. Television hostess
Mandira Bedi was the master of ceremonies introducing each driver.
As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, the Himachal Rally
Association (HRA), Western India Automobile Association (WIAA),
Western India Sports Association (WISA) and SportzPR are all involved
in organising this event in India. HRA chairman Nazir Hoosein said,
" Beginnings are never easy and this has been tougher than
most.
After 13 years an international motor sports event is taking place.
We had to start from scratch. The infrastructure that was present
for the Himalayan Rally was destroyed. In addition the roads in
Pune were ruined by the heavy monsoon. However a lot of work has
gone into preparing the track."
One of the teams from New Zealand mentioned that the stages were
rougher as compared to what they were used to back home. However
they found the big friendly crowds invigorating. Another driver
from Australia Mark Stacy mentioned that the Indian course was very
narrow and tricky. Therefore not getting sidestepped is going to
prove a real challenge. In addition to the APRC which has around
10 teams 15 local teams will compete in a round of Indian National
Rally Championship (INRC)
Bedi said that the Taj Blue Diamond would serve as the events headquarters.
The special F1 fuel had been procured from Japan while spare parts
had been gotten from Holland. Star Sports will have a half hour
wrap of each day at 3 pm, 10:30 pm on 5 December, 1 pm, 7:30 pm
on 6 December and at the same time the next day. On 8 December there
will be highlights at 3 pm.
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