Roy Haryanto out to win Formula Asia

JAKARTA (JP): The young Indonesian driver Roy Haryanto is hoping for a sweet farewell party by winning his first home Formula Asia race this Sunday.

"This is my third year in Formula Asia and I'm poised to win this time," Roy told a press conference prior to the third leg of the single-seater championships at the Sentul circuit, West Java.

Roy has changed from the Humpuss team to the Marlboro Castrol Team PTM. He is making his last appearance in Asia this season before moving to Europe next year.

"Joining the new team will not be a problem for me because it's very professional and I'm very confident about joining it," the 19-year-old driver said.

Roy, who plans to take part in the Formula Vauxhall competition in Europe in October, finished third in the Formula Asia championship last year. He has collected 27 points after the first two legs in Madras and Shah Alam this year.

"Roy is a very talented driver and I'm sure he can compete in Europe. But he needs more preparation here," said Peter Thompson, PTM's team owner.

Roy would have joined the European races this season if he had found a sponsor.

Indonesia's hopes of winning the race lie also with the talented Ananda Mikola, son of the Sentul circuit's director Tinton Suprapto.

The 16-year-old will be donning his Humpuss Marlboro team racing suit. But this time Ananda will employ Thompson's mechanics and engineers instead of Sonenscher's who helped him in last year's races.

Ananda, who finished fifth overall with 110.5 points last year, has garnered 34 points after two legs this season.

Ananda complained that Indonesian drivers have to compete in kart and Formula Asia races before moving to Formula One. But Thomson gave him options other than the Formula Asia single- seater championships.

"There's a career to be had in touring cars, F3, Indycars and other categories," he said.

Sentul has been named to host Formula Asia races on June 9, July 7 and Dec. 8. Other legs will be staged at Shah Alam, Malaysia, Zhuhai circuit in China and Macau. (yan)