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)