FA racers improve their performance in practice
FA racers improve their performance in practice
JAKARTA (JP): Two participants of the Formula Asia auto racing championship, the second leg of which will start on Saturday and Sunday at the Sentul circuit near Bogor, West Java, have recorded considerable time improvements during their practice recently.
Niclass Jonsson of the Shell-Lux team of Sweden, clocked his best time of 1 minute 30.9 seconds during a stint some time between the end of the championship's first leg, which took place on Apr. 22 and Apr. 23, and last week. This was obviously a significant improvement for the Swedish F-3 national champion who finished third with a fastest lap of 1 min 32.8 secs in the first leg.
Ananda Mikola of the Humpuss Racing team also improved his fastest lap to 1 min 31.8 secs during his stint last Saturday. In the championship's first leg, Ananda's fastest lap was 1 min 33.2 secs.
However, Chandra Alim of the Djarum Racing Team failed to estimate his best time. During his practice last week, the fastest time Chandra clocked was 1 min 32.1 secs, about 0.05 seconds slower than his fastest lap of 1 min 32.056 secs he recorded in the first leg in which he finished fourth.
The 2000cc auto racing championship features two races within each leg and requires each contestant to make 15 laps in each race. Roy Haryanto of the Humpuss Racing team won the first leg with 40 points, followed by Brian Saunders of Sonenscher Motor Racing who collected 27 points.
Third was Niclass Jonsson with 21 points. Roy's fastest lap during the first leg was 1 min 31.6 secs.
The organizers have clinched a broadcasting deal with Hong Kong-based Star TV, which will dispatch the championship's 16 races live to 53 countries in Asia and the Middle East. The live coverage is expected to reach a total of 220 million people.
Tickets for this weekend's races are on sale for between Rp 5,000 and Rp 10,000 (between $2.20 and $4.50). The tickets include the bus trip from Blok M bus terminal in South Jakarta to Sentul Circuit. (arf)