Wismoyo urges Ananda to set new goals

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Sports Council's (KONI) chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar urged on Wednesday rising Formula 3000 auto racing star Ananda Mikola to improve his performances, despite his success in both national and international events.

"We all know that you have succeeded in becoming a good auto racer but I urge you to progress more. Don't be satisfied with what you have gained because there are a lot of challenges ahead of you," Wismoyo said, following the launching of a book entitled Dari Balap Ke Balap (One Race To Another).

The book is compiled and written by A.R. Loebis, a journalist with Antara news agency. It took him 10 years to compile. He was helped by a number of journalists, including Irving Noor from the daily Kompas.

The book is about the life of Ananda and his father, Tinton Soeprapto, and how they became world class racing drivers.

The 224-page book will soon be available to the public, with a price tag of Rp 25,000. About 10,000 copies are expected to be distributed to book stores around the city.

The launching ceremony was also attended by badminton maestro Rudy Hartono and former auto racer Indradjit.

Wismoyo was impressed by the dedication of Tinton, a former auto racer himself, who had guided Ananda to fame without fatigue.

The four-star general and former Army chief said that Tinton's dedication, not only to his son but to automotive sports in general, should become a good example to other sports.

"Tinton has shown automotive sports can make anyone famous. He had devoted most of his life to automotive sports and wants his son Ananda to follow in his footsteps," Wismoyo said.

Loebis said the intention of compiling the book was mainly because of his admiration toward Tinton and Ananda.

"Actually my deepest appreciation was to Oloan Sitompul who acquainted me with Tinton. From then on, I wanted to know more about Tinton, so I wrote the book. I hope other journalists write books about famous sportsmen," Loebis said.

Loebis further said that he had known Tinton since 1983 and considers him to be an astonishing man. Apart from racing, Tinton also promoted boxing, cycling and athletics.

"What excites me is that Tinton promotes sports not just in an arena, but any where. Boxing, for instance, he held at a discotheque and a marathon on Mount Bromo in East Java," Loebis said.

Tinton, 54, is a noted auto racer and has won a number of national and international events. He runs his family with discipline and wants his children to become successful.

"At first I didn't want to let Ananda become like me, but he showed his principle that he wanted to be a racer. Observing Ananda's strong initiative to be a racer, I had no choice but to agree to his intention," Tinton said.

Ananda, conversely, praised his father as being patient and a good guardian.

"My father always tells me to never give up. He never discourages me if I lose a race, but instead gives me spirit, telling me one day I will win," Ananda said.

Ananda is concentrating on Formula 3000 races. Should he win the races, he will automatically qualify for Formula One.

"I want to show that Indonesia will one day have a racer in Formula One and I want to prove it," said Ananda, who will soon leave for Italy and a number of European countries for Formula 3000 races. (lnt)