Ardiansyah to compete in Asia-Pacific series

JAKARTA (JP): National motocrosser Irwan Ardiansyah will move to the Indria Motosport team next year as he attempts to realize his ambition of competing in the Asia-Pacific series.

Ardiansyah, nicknamed Dian, has won the National Motocross Championships four times in a row beginning in 1996.

"Actually, I am too late to start competing in the Asia- Pacific series. I should have tried two years ago but at that time we were suffering due to the economic turmoil," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"If only I could have competed abroad earlier, one year after I won the national championships (for the first time), I believe I could have achieved more internationally."

Dian, who previously raced for the Pertamina Motocross team, said he would compete in the Thailand series, which consists of 11 races.

"But I may not be able to compete in all 11 races because I also have to race in this country to retain my crown. I know I will face motocrossers from Pertamina, but it's not a big deal for me," he said.

"I set as my target, at the least, to be number five in Thailand, but hopefully I can finish third overall."

Dian said he moved to Indria not because he was not satisfied with Pertamina, but because he wanted more support for his ambitions to race in the Asia-Pacific series.

"Indria has plans to provide overseas training. I will train for two weeks in Barcelona in January with Harry Everts, the brother of world motocross champion Stephen Everts. I will also train in the United States for one month, but I still have to look at the national championships schedule before training there," he said.

Dian, 22, won the seventh edition of the national championships with 268 points. He was followed by teammate Andy Suryanto with 232 points and Aep Dadang Supriyatna with 205.

In a ceremony on Wednesday, Pertamina handed over Rp 2 million (US$282) in training fees to Dian, Andy and Denny Orlando.

Pertamina also handed over training fees to its rally driver Rifat Sungkar and navigator M. Herkusuma, and to its Yamaha Racing team members Hendriansyah and Achmad Jayadie.

Rifat and Herkusuma won the five-series sprint rally national championships with 78 points. They were followed by Aga Kartiwa and Lanang Darmajati, and Chandra Alim and Ade Ramadhan.

Hendriansyah won the nine-series national road race championships with a total of 344 points, followed by Achmad with 320 points and Felix JY with 222 points. (yan)