Fino ready to defend racing title

Fino ready to defend racing title

JAKARTA (JP): Local racing driver Fino Saksono said on
Tuesday he was ready to defend his title in the Formula Ford Euro
Asia at the Sentul circuit, near Bogor, on Feb. 13.

"Mentally and physically I am ready. My only problem is the
condition of my Van Diemen '97 engine which is outdated compared
to other drivers, who are using 1999 engines," Fino told
reporters during the Formula Friendship ceremony at Novotel Bogor
hotel on Tuesday.

In last Sunday's race, Fino, from Primajasa Motorsport team,
won the Formula Ford Euro Asia Division One race defeating four
Dutch drivers in a time of 25 minutes and 08.046 seconds.

The four Dutch drivers were Roel Mulder, Flores Jan Hekker, Ed
de Groot and Marijn van Kamhout.

Mulder from Mulder Racing came second clocking 25:37.541,
while Hekker (Old Time Racing) took third with 25:48.741.

De Grot (Smit Racing), who was the race favorite, had to be
satisfied with fourth place in a time of 26:33.948.

His teammate Van Klamhout (Swift '97) slipped to fifth place
in a time of 26:33.948.

Fino admitted he still lacks experience compared to the
foreign drivers. He considered the Formula Ford race as a
challenge for participating in Formula I races.

"I can learn a lot from the foreign drivers who have more
experience than me," Fino said.

De Grot, who organized the race and invited the drivers from
the Netherlands, said that Indonesia was a safe place to visit,
and also do some business and racing.

"I have told people in Europe that they have nothing to fear
when visiting Indonesia. It is already safe and they may come at
any time," De Grot said.

Also attending the ceremony were Jullen Schell (Pegasus
Racing) from France and local drivers Arya Setyaki (Viradi
Indonesia) and Satrio Hermanto (Smit Racing).

Arya and Satrio failed to finish the race, with Arya only
managing to clock 22:08.515 and Satrio 5:00326.

Schell won the race's top division, clocking 24:58.223,
followed by four Dutchmen Mark Nachtgeller (Tona Racing) in
25:12.760, Alain Bijl (Smit Racing) in 25:47.347 and Michel
Florie (Kalmhout Racing) in 13:35.371.

The Formula Friendship is organized by Orient Overseas
Container Line (OECL), an export-import containers shipping
company, in cooperation with the Sentul circuit.

OECL transported the Formula Ford cars in their containers to
Indonesia. OECL has branch companies around the world, including
in Indonesia. (lnt)