The Sentul International Circuit in Bogor, West Java, once again played host to world-class drivers on the weekend after hosting the successful A1 Grand Prix of Nations two years ago.
This time several Speedcar Asia Series events and the second race of the Grand Prix 2 Asia Series were held at the track.
Indonesian drivers Ananda Mikola and Moreno Soeprapto were among hopefuls taking part in the Speedcar Asia Series on the weekend.
Ananda gave local spectators something to cheer about when he finished third in Sunday's race.
Ananda finishes in third place
Indonesian Ananda Mikola made amends for an error that cost him dearly in the first race and used his knowledge of the track to finish third in the second race of the inaugural Speedcar Asia series at the Sentul International Circuit in West Java on Sunday.
Uwe Alzen of the Phoenix Racing Team won the race with a time of 40:39.625, followed by former Formula One driver Jean Alesi of the Speedcar Team in 40:42.219. Ananda finished his 26 laps in a time of 40:44.211, good enough for third.
As in the first race on Saturday, Ananda enjoyed a flying start to lead for the first seven laps. However, he lost momentum and was passed by Alzen, who stormed past the Indonesian. Alzen maintained the gap with the pack throughout the remaining laps.
Struggling hard to keep hold of second position, Ananda, who also represents the Speedcar Team, saw his teammate Alesi overtake him in the 24th lap. Alesi was the fastest in Saturday's race.
"I'm happy with the result. I was able to hold my nerve and finish third eventually," Ananda said.
He said finishing third had been his personal target going into the race.
Ananda flopped in the first race on Saturday, finishing eighth after braking too late while in the lead, bouncing across the grass and spinning as he rejoined the circuit.
Uwe Alzen said the race was tough.
"The 45-minute race was hard, but I'm happy with the result," said Alzen in a post-race press conference.
Sentul saw another race on Sunday, the Grand Prix 2 Asia series race, with Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy of the Super Nova Racing team claiming the top spot on the podium.
Fauzy, starting in pole position, maintained his lead over the 31 laps, finishing in a time of 45:06.344.
He said he was happy with the win, while hailing his team's good performance.
"We had a good qualification yesterday (Saturday), good performance today and with this victory all the hard work has paid off," he said.
He hoped Sunday's victory would give him a confidence boost going into the next series.
Finishing behind Fauzy was Brunno Senna of iSport International with a time of 45:07.824, good for second place, and Vitaly Petrov of Barwa International Campos in a time of 45:08.044.
The GP2 Asia series features 27 racers from 12 European teams and an Asian team.
The next round of the GP2 Asia will be held at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia on March 22-23. (nkn)
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