Three local motor racers to train in Spain

JAKARTA (JP): Three Indonesian road-race motorcyclists left the country yesterday to participate in a two-week training course at the Kenny Roberts Training Ranch in Barcelona, Spain, a spokesman said.

The three racers are Petrus Canisius, Ade Taruna and Roy Adianto. They will train until Jan. 31 under the sponsorship of Marlboro.

Djohar Djoewardi said Thursday that the three racers were selected following their success in the 1996 Marlboro Asia Pacific Road Racing Championship and Marlboro Yamaha Cup Race.

"The sending of the racers to Barcelona was a commitment from Marlboro to improve their performances so they can compete in major events such as the World Grand Prix," Djohar said. Sending the best local racers to train overseas has been an annual fixture for Marlboro.

Last year Ade also went to Barcelona together with Achmad Jayadi. The two racers failed to qualify for the Marlboro Roberts Asia team after losing out to two Malaysian racers Sharun Nizam and Chow Yan Kit.

"We hope this year, the three racers being sent to Barcelona will be included in the Kenny Roberts team. If they do, this will be a proud moment for us and also for the racers to compete in competitions at a higher level," the spokesman said.

According to Djohar, in order to send racers to train in Barcelona, a number of criteria must be fulfilled by the racers, including that they be young, talented and dedicated. "It is the young racers that need good training since they have the better potential to succeed."

Djohar pointed to Japan which trains young racers for up to seven years before they join a team. "This prolonged training has resulted in many of the Japanese racers winning a number of Grand Prix tournaments. We should learn from them."

Marlboro has been involved in training and helping the development of motor racing since 1972. The first success was in 1972 and 1975 when Giacomo Agostini from Italy became world champion in the 500cc class. It was then followed by Barry Sheane of England in 1977, Italians Marco Luchinelli and Franco Uncini in 1981 and 1982, Eddy Lawson of the USA in 1984, 1986, 1988, and Wayne Rainey also of the USA in 1990, 1991, 1992. (lnt)