Ananda finishes 15th in Austrian F-3000

Ananda finishes 15th in Austrian F-3000

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia racing driver Ananda Mikola finished
15th on Sunday in the seventh leg of the FIA Formula 3000
International race at the A1 Ring circuit in Spielberg, Austria.

Ananda, who started in 22nd place, did his best after a knock
with Frenchman Soheil Ayari left his suspension damaged.

The 48-lap race began at 3.00 p.m. local time and went on for
nearly one hour. After the first lap, Ananda was in 16th place
having overtaken five other drivers, including the William F1
test driver and favorite winner Bruno Junqueira.

He managed to improve his position to 13th place until the
14th lap, when Andre Couto and Christian Albern hit one another
forcing the safety car to escort the remaining drivers.

Ayari lost control before he hitting Ananda's car. The
Indonesian later on dropped to 20th position.

Antara reported Ananda was very careful in the remaining laps.
On a corner, Ananda hit Yves Oliver and further damaged his
broken suspension.

He had to be satisfied with his time of 01:11:12.771 and 15th
place.

French Nicolas Minassian finished first after clocking
01:10:42.354 followed by Briton Justin Wilson (01:10:43.768) and
BAR test driver Darren Manning (01:10:48.263.)

Ananda said he was under pressure in the seventh leg.

"Ever since the qualifying round, many cars have been hitting
each other and ending up off the track. I was very careful
because I didn't want to finish in the gravel. I'm satisfied with
my car's condition despite it being hit and having broken
suspension," he said.

"I forced myself to finish the race in the last five laps as
the suspension was really bad. But I didn't want to give up," he
added.

Manager Piers Hunnisett said Ananda has learned a lot in the
race by being able to overtake five racers.

"If only he hadn't of hit Ayari, Ananda would have finished in
the top 10," he said. (yan)