JANUARY 6, 2001
Indonesia's rising star signs for Astromega
ANANDA MIKOLA has signed a two-year contract to race for the Astromega team in Formula 3000.
Mikola is very well-connected in Indonesia and is a relative of one of President Achmad Sukarno's ministers from the 1960s. Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia, was ousted in a military coup in 1967 by General Raden Suharto, who remained in control until a couple of years ago but is now under indictment for corruption.
The current government includes Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, Sukarno's daughter and there seems to be support for Mikola from her following. Several high-ranking members of the Indonesian government visited the Monaco and Malaysian GPs last year as negotiations took place with Prost. These also involved the Singapore-born Australian racer Christian Murchison. It is worth noting that there are also plans being discussed for a racing circuit to be built on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali.
Mikola is expected to be joined at Astromega by Italian rising star Giorgio Pantano while the team will continue to be run by former F1 men Sam Boyle and engineer Chris Murphy.