Irvine hopes to finish third in F1 series<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): As the competition tightens between Ferrari and
\nMcLaren in the 2001 Formula One series, Jaguar racing team driver
\nEddie Irvine of Great Britain said on Thursday that it would feel
\nlike winning the championship itself if he could finish third in
\nthe overall rank.<\/p>\n
\"It's still difficult for Jaguar to beat the two big boys, the
\nFerrari and McLarren teams, in the near future. It takes four to
\nfive years for us to really compete with them,\" he said in a
\nmedia conference at the Senayan Mulia Hotel, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Those two teams have been in the series for quite a long time
\nand are more experienced. While my team has just started last
\nyear,\" said Irvine, who will start the first race in Melbourne on
\nMarch 4.<\/p>\n
Irvine spent his year-end vacation in Bali starting on Dec. 24
\nand arrived in Jakarta on Thursday as a special guest of Ananda
\nMikola Management (AMM) which manages Indonesia's Formula 3000
\ndriver, Ananda Mikola.<\/p>\n
Jaguar's debut was shadowed by a series of technical problems
\nand Irvine failed to even get close to his best achievement.<\/p>\n
Before joining Jaguar, Irvine was the second driver of Ferrari
\nsince 1996. His best achievement with the Italian stallion was as
\nrunner up in the 1999 series, his last year with Ferrari.<\/p>\n
Irvine said his team would not challenge the two big boys but
\nthe more equal teams of Benetton, British American Racing (BAR),
\nJordan, Sauber, and Williams.<\/p>\n
\"We want to be the best of the rest. It's more fun competing
\nwith them. So if I can get the third place it feels like winning
\nthe series itself,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ananda said he was ready to give his best to his
\nnew team after signing a one-year contract with Astromega with
\nthe option to extend the contract in the second year in 2002.<\/p>\n
\"I hope my performance in Formula 3000 can attract Formula One
\nteams to recruit me as their driver.\"<\/p>\n
As part of the team's preparation, Ananda and teammate Giorgio
\nPantano of Italy will undergo several training sessions in
\nBrazil, Imola, Italy and Silverstone, England.<\/p>\n
\"I approached Astromega in Sepang, Malaysia, last year to
\nstudy if the team still has a place for Ananda. They said they
\nhad to test him first,\" said AMM President Gunawan Candra.<\/p>\n
\"What surprised me was the fact that Astromega was already
\naware of Ananda's performance since his participation in Formula
\nThree.\"<\/p>\n
Gunawan also said that both Ananda's and Pantano's cars would
\nhave \"INDONESIA\" written on the bodies to promote the country.<\/p>\n
Astromega's team manager, Sam Boyle, refused to reveal the
\nvalue of Ananda's contract.<\/p>\n
\"We need US$5 million to finance Astromega's operation but I
\ncan't reveal the amount of the individual contract,\" he said.
\n\"Actually we need more companies to sponsor us, such as our
\nrecent agreement with Lucent Technologies.\"<\/p>\n
Astromega's Fernando Alonzo was fourth in the 2000 season
\nbefore being recruited by Formula One team, Minardi.<\/p>\n
Boyle was confident that Ananda really had a chance in the
\nFormula 3000 series, dubbed as the Formula One's supporting race.<\/p>\n
\"Ananda was even faster than Pantano in our recent test in
\nBarcelona. The potential is there but we can't guarantee it,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"But all I can say is if Ananda fails this year, it's not his
\nfault but ours. Ananda needs one to two years before he's ready
\nto move to Formula One.\"<\/p>\n
The most important thing, Boyle said, was to find a good and
\nreliable team for Ananda.<\/p>\n
\"Astromega's owner, Mikke van Hool, was a racer himself before
\nhe had to retire due to decreasing achievement. He was an OK
\ndriver but he just couldn't find the right team,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"So van Hool dedicated his time to help talented but less
\nfortunate drivers by setting up this team.\" (nvn)<\/p>",
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