Mumbai, Dec 04: Australia and New Zealand, which enjoy an enviable track record for producing world class rally drivers, will have a strong representation at MRF India Rally 2003, the fifth round of the Asia Pacific rally championship (APRC) to be held in Pune from December 5-7.
Karamjit Singh with co-driver Allen Oh Siew Sain of Malaysia and Nico Caldarola and co-driver Paolo Cecchini of Italy are also expected to do well in the rally which will be flagged-off here today.
In all eleven top rallists from Malaysia, Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway and New Zealand will vie for top honours in the three-day car rally which will cover a distance of 260 kms. The India Rally for INRC and Rally Star Cup will also be held concurrently on December six and seven.
The Indian interest in the APRC will revolve around the two Team MRF Tyres entries Armin Kremer and co-driver Fred Berssen of Germany and David Doppelreiter of Austria and his co-driver Ola Floence of Norway, a press release said here.
Others in the fray are Geof Argyle and co-driver Steve Smith, Andrew Hawkeswood and co-driver Paul Fallon and Brian Green and co-driver Fleur Pedersen (all from New Zealand), Fumio Nutahara and co-driver Satoshi Hayashi of Japan, Norberto Cangani and co-driver Cristina Castorina of Italy, the Aussies Christopher Atkinson and co-driver Benjamin and Katsuhiko Taguchi of Japan and co-driver Mark Stacey of Australia.


Bureau Report