Naren fails to finish among points in Rally of New Zealand

Hamilton, Aug 31 (UNI) Team Sidvin India driver Naren failed to be among the points as he developed problems with the rear differential and the gear box in the Rally of New Zealand here today.

Everyone, who was closely following the rally, was hoping that Naren would fulfill his promise to be among the points and he was on course to do that as he was running eighth on stage 14.

Meanwhile, World champion Sebastien Loeb won the Rally to extend his lead in the world rally championship drivers' standings.

A disappointed Naren said, ''I was doing so well till this happened. I was running eighth when the gear box broke. It is a very sad day for me. I was confident of finishing in the points this time.'' However, Team Sidvin India Owner Mohan Nagarajan said, ''Naren was settling down well and we are happy that he is learning. It is unfortunate that the car had a mechanical breakdown.'' ''We understand that this is a new car and we would have problems. STl and Subaru engineers are working very hard to resolve these small glitches. It is to be expected that when a new car is launched a few grey areas will emerge.

''We need to utilise our engineering poweress to overcome these issues. We are sure to be able solve these issues very quickly,'' Nagaranjan said, adding that they were looking forward to the Japan round where they will be introducing various developments they have made on the car.

UNI XC PY RAR AS1812