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)