Irvine hopes to finish third in F1 series

Irvine hopes to finish third in F1 series

JAKARTA (JP): As the competition tightens between Ferrari and
McLaren in the 2001 Formula One series, Jaguar racing team driver
Eddie Irvine of Great Britain said on Thursday that it would feel
like winning the championship itself if he could finish third in
the overall rank.

"It's still difficult for Jaguar to beat the two big boys, the
Ferrari and McLarren teams, in the near future. It takes four to
five years for us to really compete with them," he said in a
media conference at the Senayan Mulia Hotel, Central Jakarta.

"Those two teams have been in the series for quite a long time
and are more experienced. While my team has just started last
year," said Irvine, who will start the first race in Melbourne on
March 4.

Irvine spent his year-end vacation in Bali starting on Dec. 24
and arrived in Jakarta on Thursday as a special guest of Ananda
Mikola Management (AMM) which manages Indonesia's Formula 3000
driver, Ananda Mikola.

Jaguar's debut was shadowed by a series of technical problems
and Irvine failed to even get close to his best achievement.

Before joining Jaguar, Irvine was the second driver of Ferrari
since 1996. His best achievement with the Italian stallion was as
runner up in the 1999 series, his last year with Ferrari.

Irvine said his team would not challenge the two big boys but
the more equal teams of Benetton, British American Racing (BAR),
Jordan, Sauber, and Williams.

"We want to be the best of the rest. It's more fun competing
with them. So if I can get the third place it feels like winning
the series itself," he said.

Meanwhile, Ananda said he was ready to give his best to his
new team after signing a one-year contract with Astromega with
the option to extend the contract in the second year in 2002.

"I hope my performance in Formula 3000 can attract Formula One
teams to recruit me as their driver."

As part of the team's preparation, Ananda and teammate Giorgio
Pantano of Italy will undergo several training sessions in
Brazil, Imola, Italy and Silverstone, England.

"I approached Astromega in Sepang, Malaysia, last year to
study if the team still has a place for Ananda. They said they
had to test him first," said AMM President Gunawan Candra.

"What surprised me was the fact that Astromega was already
aware of Ananda's performance since his participation in Formula
Three."

Gunawan also said that both Ananda's and Pantano's cars would
have "INDONESIA" written on the bodies to promote the country.

Astromega's team manager, Sam Boyle, refused to reveal the
value of Ananda's contract.

"We need US$5 million to finance Astromega's operation but I
can't reveal the amount of the individual contract," he said.
"Actually we need more companies to sponsor us, such as our
recent agreement with Lucent Technologies."

Astromega's Fernando Alonzo was fourth in the 2000 season
before being recruited by Formula One team, Minardi.

Boyle was confident that Ananda really had a chance in the
Formula 3000 series, dubbed as the Formula One's supporting race.

"Ananda was even faster than Pantano in our recent test in
Barcelona. The potential is there but we can't guarantee it," he
said.

"But all I can say is if Ananda fails this year, it's not his
fault but ours. Ananda needs one to two years before he's ready
to move to Formula One."

The most important thing, Boyle said, was to find a good and
reliable team for Ananda.

"Astromega's owner, Mikke van Hool, was a racer himself before
he had to retire due to decreasing achievement. He was an OK
driver but he just couldn't find the right team," he said.

"So van Hool dedicated his time to help talented but less
fortunate drivers by setting up this team." (nvn)