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Team MRF wins Asia Pacific title
Jussi Valimaki and co-driver Jarkko Kalliolepo helped Team MRF Tyres win the 2005 Asia Pacific Car Rally championship.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:53 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Mumbai:
Jussi Valimaki and co-driver Jarkko Kalliolepo helped Team MRF Tyres win the 2005 Asia Pacific Car Rally championship. They were honoured by another motorsports fan Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai on Wednesday night. After a total of eight races, the Finnish duo gathered 87 points, 12 points ahead of their nearest competitors. "It's approximately 300,000 Euros for one rally and there are 16 rallies. So it's very big money and it's almost impossible for the sponsors to carry on with that kind of programme," said Jussi Valimaki, winner, Asia Pacific Rally. The tyre brand wants to compete at higher and higher levels, but it's unlikely the circuit would come to India as the FIA complains India's attempts to host circuits have been disastrous. "We were 43 minutes late in our first stage. 43 minutes is a disaster. The drivers get upset, the cars are set up wrong, the tyres are wrong. One thing leads to another. At the end of the day you pick up a bad name," said Nazir Hoosen, President, Motorsports Association of India. It's not just the developed countries in the Asia Pacific region, even Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have hosted rallies and until India gets its act together, it's unlikely Indian fans will get a chance to enjoy motorsport racing at home.Topics mentioned in this article
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