Following in the footsteps of Carlos Sainz and Alister McRae is a big deal. To then understand that you’ve made national sporting history in your homeland took Rifat Sungkar’s achievement to another level.
The Škoda Fabia Rally2 driver lifted the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship title on the season finale, the Danau Toba Rally.
An Indonesian becoming the first-ever APRC champion in Indonesia. It was a big deal.
Sungkar said: “To be an Indonesian and become Asia-Pacific champion, it’s a dream. My son said: ‘I’ve never seen you cry.’ I cried!
“It’s worth the wait, but it’s been a long journey. This weekend has been a big fight and against a huge field.”
Based in North Sumatra’s Toba Pulp Lestari Plantation, the weekend event included 93 competitive miles. Sungkar and his Australian co-driver Ben Searcy were 5.7s ahead after day one, but a day later that lead had grown to 47.2s in this winner-takes-all finale of the FIA regional series.
Typically tricky Indonesian conditions caught out some of the event’s biggest names, with Sean Gelael plowing his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 into a bank and out of contention on Saturday morning.
