Roy aims for straight victories

Roy aims for straight victories

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian driver Roy Haryanto is setting his
sights on a second triumph in the second leg of the Formula Asia
auto racing championship series at the Sentul circuit this
weekend.

Roy will lead the trio of Humpuss Team drivers, who reigned
during the opening leg at the same track three weeks ago.

Humpuss team manager Tinton Soeprapto said that solid back-up
from Stanley Iriawan and Ananda Mikola are well prepared to pave
Roy's way to double glory.

Twenty cars are expected to compete in the Gudang Garam
Formula Asia race, the region's prestigious single-seater event
scheduled to be staged over 16 legs. Indonesia will host four of
them, while the others will take place in Malaysia, Thailand and
China.

"We have been grooming Roy for the next year's Formula 3000
races and eventually for the prestigious Formula One
championship," Tinton said.

He also said Ananda will take over Roy's role once the Humpuss
team backbone wheels his racing car off the Formula Asia pitch.
"Ananda has been improved greatly. He clocked his fastest time of
one minute and 32.59 seconds to complete a lap," said Tinton.

Eighteen-year-old Roy sped his way through a successful first
leg, winning on both Saturday and Sunday. He now tops the
drivers' championship standings with 20 points, followed by
Niclass Jonsson of Sweden with 15 points.

"Our drivers are ready to race on either dry or wet tracks
this season," Tinton said when asked about the chances of his men
this year. Roy finished the inaugural season last year in fourth
place. (amd)