01 Jun 2008 

India’s Naren Kumar battled persistent car problems and rough terrain that saw 26 competitors out of the original 60 fall by the wayside to notch a creditable 10th place finish at his PWRC debut in Greece.

The first Indian to contest a world rally event, Naren and co-driver Nicky Beech overcame a variety of problems with their brand-new Tomi Makinen-prepared Subaru WRX to move up the leaderboard throughout three days of tough conditions on the Greek roads.

The 34-year-old Indian champ commented after the event, “It would have been an amazing debut had I made a cut into the top-10. But my car faced so many problems. On the second day we had trouble in the turbo and during the final day we had an oil leak from the engine”.

Of all the Subaru cars in the field, Naren came in second best. That should improve his stake with the manufacturer which only allowed him into the cockpit after its experts had evaluated his ability. “In our opinion, Naren has done excellent. First time with a car at this level, he has managed to keep going even when more experienced drivers have been making mistakes. The strategy for him was to experience the full rally and get as many kms as possible. His driving is very promising,” said Esko Rainer MD, Tommi Makinen Racing — the team that is backing Naren’s challenge.

Naren and Team Sidvin will now have two weeks to re-group and prepare their car for Rally Turkey, which starts on June 13.