Ananda grabs title at Croatian F3

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Formula 3 driver Ananda Mikola marked his racing comeback by clinching the Croatian Grobnik title after being forced to abandon his Formula 3000 career due to financial constraints.

Ananda started from pole position and totally dominated the race from the first lap with his former team, RC Sports, which now hold the Prost Grand Prix Junior title, as reported on Ananda's website, www.anandamikola.com.

Ananda struggled to get off the line and had to follow a fast starting Tom Nemarnik into the first corner. However, by the end of the first lap Ananda found a way past and set about building up a led.

At the end of the eighth lap he had a lead of over 4.3 seconds, until a safety car shut down the race due to an accident. After Ananda followed behind the safety car for two laps, the race resumed. As the safety car pulled off Ananda slowed the field down perfectly before accelerating hard and leaving the pack way behind, a trick Ananda studied in Champ cars.

Ananda steadily pulled away from Nemarnik and crossed the finishing line 7.729 ahead to the delight of the Prost Formula 3 Junior team clocking 28.14.769. (nvn)