Mikola takes pole for Asian opener.

Indonesian brothers Ananda Mikola and Moreno Soeprapto ensured a family sweep by taking pole position for the overall race and Promotions Class respectively at the opening round of the Asian F3 Championship at Batangas in the Philippines.

09 Apr 2005

The pair had earlier dominated their respective classes in practice for the Addict Mobile Batangas Asian F3 Superprix, with Mikola setting fastest times in all but one session - and he sat that session out! Christian Jones, John O'Hara and Dado Pena proved to be his closest rivals, and it was the Australian and local hero Pena who claimed second and third in qualifying. O'Hara reckoned that Mikola was 'making everyone look stupid', but both Pena and Jones seem confident they can find that bit extra required to challenge the former F3000 racer.

Behind Soeprapto in the Promotions Class were Greg Murphy and John Marcelo, with Renan Morales pushed to the back of the field after an impressive practice run. Along with Enzo Pastor, Morales was adjudged to have failed the airbox vacuum test and were stripped of their times.

Practice had not been without its problems, however, and Pena missed the last session after going off heavily at the notorious Brian's corner, inflicting a fair bit of damage to his car. Reigning champion Jones had little running due to a broken diff and two punctures, while O'Hara, Carino and Murphy all had offs, fortunately without sustaining major damage.

Katsuhiro Konno came off worst of all, however, his JF3 Dallara 301 hitting the wall on the exit of the 200kph kink before the last turn on the first lap of the second session of the day. The car bounced off the wall, ripping off the fuel rail, which then caused the car to catch light. Konno was able to jump clear, but was been taken to hospital for precautionary checks on his right leg. The car was completely destroyed in the fire.

Ironically, Konno's team mate, Soeprapto, was forced to swipe the wall in avoidance of the accident and suffered some suspension damage. Practice for the day was then abandoned in order that repairs could be made to the track, the asphalt having melted in the conflagration.

Qualifying times - Batangas:

Ananda Mikola Fastron 1m 22.410sChristian Jones Jones 1m 22.689sDado Pena Goddard 1m 23.648sJohn O'Hara TOM's 1m 23.651sTyson Sy Speedtech 1m 23.742sJames Winslow PCSO 1m 23.856sRodolfo Avila TOM's 1m 24.045sMoreno Soeprapto JF3 1m 24.920sPepon Marave PCSO 1m 25.443sGreg Murphy Goddard 1m 27.258sJohn Marcelo Jones 1m 27.814sJP Carino Speedtech 1m 29.030sJP Tuason Tuason 1m 29.657sEnzo Pastor TBC 1m 27.829s*Renan Morales TOM's 1m 32.040s*