RI driver Ananda to race in F3000 opener

JAKARTA (JP): Young driver Ananda Mikola qualified for the first leg of the FIA's F3000 series at the Imola circuit in Italy, beginning on Saturday evening (Jakarta time), Ananda's manager Piers Hunnisett said.

Hunnisett said Ananda clocked his fastest time of one minute 39.303 seconds in two qualifying sessions. Ananda was 1.265 seconds behind Bruno Janqueira, who is in pole position, in 1:38.038.

He said Ananda's teammate from the World Racing Team (WRT), Hidetoshi Mitsusada of Japan, failed to qualify. Mitsusada was timed in 1:39.733.

Hunnisett said the tension was high during the first qualifying session, as 30 international racers sought to record their best times.

He said Ananda felt the pressure because the time difference among the drivers was slight. He was also disturbed by the tight competition schedule and the equal quality of competitors.

"My hands were trembling when I was getting onto the track in the first session," Ananda was quoted as saying by Hunnisett.

"No wonder that some racers like David Sealens, Jeffrey van Hooydonk, M. Haberfeld, Ricardo Maurizio and Ananda's colleague Mitsusada, did not make it. Two racers, Christian Albert and Victor Maslov, were disqualified," he told Antara on Saturday.

"Ananda went through a hard time before qualifying in the event because of his slight time difference with 24 racers in the period."

Ananda was grateful he came through the tight competition.

"The qualifying session was very nerve-racking, perhaps it was more tense than the opener. But Alhamdulillah (praise God) I qualified," Ananda said. (ivy)