Ardiansyah to compete in Asia-Pacific series
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)