Indon rider off to flying start in AF3

ROSARIO, Batangas — Indon Ananda Mikola and Aussie Christian Jones are fast turning the 2005 Asian Formula 3 Series into a personal duel. Score the first one on Mikola.

Brandishing the same form that secured him the pole position in the qualifying race, Mikola of Fastron Racing with Threebound put one over defending champion Jones of Christian Jones Motorsport yesterday to rule the first of the two races in the 2005 Addict Mobile AF3 Super Prix at the Batangas Racing Circuit here.

The 26-year-old Mikola pulled away in the final two laps after parrying Jones’ repeated attempts at the lead, clocking 40 minutes and 54.149 seconds in a win that made some flag-waving Indonesians, mostly students studying in Manila, something to cheer about.

"I’m happy with the way I raced today and with the support given me by my countrymen," said Mikola, whose family owns the racing track back in Sentul, Indonesia where the fifth and sixth legs of the series will be held.

"Hopefully, I could try to make a good start and see from there," he added, referring to the second race held Sunday afternoon in the race backed by Addict Mobile, Yokohama, Boysen, Motolite, PLDT My PAD (www.pldtmypad.com) and Hotel Lima with Jam 88.3, Magic 89.9. 99.5 RT, 103.5 K Lite, Wave 89.1 as media partners.

Jones came in second (40:56.302) despite posting the leg’s fastest lap time of 1:23.681 while Irish John O’Hara of Fujitsu Ten Toyota Team Tom’s came in third (41:08.061) to complete the podium winners in the international class.

And Mikola did it despite encountering fuel and steering problems in the sixth lap."It was not a perfect drive for me. I felt something wrong with my car in the sixth lap and I was over-steering," recalled Mikola, who led the starting grid after ruling the qualifying race in 1:22.410.

"But I kept my concentration and maintained the gap the rest of the way."

The Philippine challenge got a snag after Dado Peña — the best RP bet after a solid effort in the qualifiers, started out bad and relinquished No. 3 to the Irishman. The 17-year-old Spain-born Filipino, of the Ambi Pur Team Goddard-Minardi Team Asia, finished at No. 4 in 41:16.516.

Tyson Sy, the 2004 AF3 promotions class winner, and riding for Speedtech Asia, started out even worse.

The 17-year-old Sy, who is running in the international class for the first time, felt the jitters as his engine stalled and needed some help from his team to start up the fray some half a minute after the race started.

But boasting of a superbly-conditioned car and determination, Sy stormed his way back, overtook three racers and finished at ninth (41:50.815).

The closest Jones got to Mikola was in the 12th lap when he was just 0.345 second behind but he caught up with back marker Greg Murphy at the final turn going into the 13th lap and was never closer from there as the Indon pulled away for good.

Another Indon, Moreno Soeprapto of Denso Hanjin JF3 displayed magnificent driving by copping the promotions class trophy in 41:49.944. Filipino Enzo Pastor of Shell Helix Kinetic PCSO and Irish Greg Murphy, Pena’s teammate, came in second and third with times of 41:03.059 and 41:12.434, respectively.