Ananda finishes 20th in France

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian driver Ananda Mikola only finished in 20th position at the FIA Formula 3000 sixth leg at the Magny Cours circuit, France, on Saturday.

In the first of 49 lap, Ananda, who started in the 26th place, managed to overtake to reach the 24th position ahead of Kevin McGarrity and Mark Hynes.

Unfortunately on the third lap Brazilian Ricardo Maurizio made a fatal mistake at the turn which blocked Ananda and Hynes. Hynes had to retire as his car was out of the track but Ananda was able to continue the race.

Ananda, son of former driver Tinton Suprapto, expressed dissatisfaction with his result blaming brake problems for his poor showing.

"I have worked really hard to speed up and take over positions on the track but there was still a problem with my brakes as happened in yesterday's qualification," he said after the race.

"When I turned at the corner, my car was hit really hard by Mark Hynes. The engine died, but I was lucky to be able to restart it," he said as quoted by Antara.

"The race was really demanding on my energy due to the hot weather and the slippery road. But compared to the previous leg in Barcelona, this time is better. For the moment, I think Barcelona is the hardest race."

The sixth leg was won by Frenchman Nicolas Minassian clocking one hour 15 minutes and 44.627 seconds followed by Sebastien Bourdais in 1:15:48.186 and David Sealens in third place with 1:15:52.563.

Three racers -- Fernando Alonso, Maurizio and Hynes -- failed to finish the race.

While the 1998 Italian F3 runner up Andre Couto of Portugal only managed to finish in 21st place followed by the Macau F3 winner Soheil Ayari in 22nd position. (yan)