FORMULA BMW PACIFIC CHAMPION JOINS SANDOWN F3 SUPERPRIX GRID
THE SANDOWN F3 SUPERPRIX is set to be a melting pot of international
racing talent following the conformation today that 16-year-old
Indonesian Formula BMW star Rio Haryanto will return to the Formula 3
Australian Drivers' Championship this November.
Haryanto, from Central Java in Indonesia, raced a National Class Dallara
at Queensland Raceway in August this year but will step into outright
contention at the Melbourne circuit, set to take to the wheel of an
Astuti Motorsport F307 Dallara.
Already crowned the Formula BMW Pacific champion (with one round to
spare), Haryanto will join drivers from Australia, New Zealand and the
United Kingdom as outright contenders for Formula 3s toughest race of
the year - an event that will double as a title showdown between Tim
Macrow and Joey Foster.
Haryanto will drive the Astuti chassis driven to a race win last year at
Oran Park by James Winslow.
The youngster has dominated proceedings in the competitive Formula BMW
Asia championship this year and will finish that particular campaign one
week before the Sandown event, at the Macau Grand Prix.
"It is fantastic that the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship can
attract a champion driver from Asia like Rio," Astuti Motorsport team
owner Sam Astuti said.
"It shows the progress the series is making and the reputation it now
has internationally. The field at Sandown will be first-class and we
can't wait for what should be a fantastic SuperPrix race."
Driving a PHR Scuderia F304 Dallara, Haryanto scored a National Class
pole position at Queensland Raceway and finished just behind class
champion Tom Tweedie in the first race.
"As a team we were impressed with Rio's performances at Queensland in
the National Class car," Astuti said.
"By the end of the weekend he was just as fast as the class benchmark
and not far off the outright cars too. We are looking forward to seeing
what he can do in the outright car at Sandown and I would say, based
on his pace and successes in Asia so far this year, he will be very
competitive."
Haryanto will be a team-mate to Sydney driver Mat Sofi, his #2 AmPro
Tools Dallara also prepared out of the Astuti Motorsport stable, giving
the team two cars for the first time this season.
The Sandown F3 SuperPrix will be contested between November 27 - 29,
alongside the final round of the 2009 Shannons Nationals.
-credit: formula3.com.au
