As the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship – certified by FIA prepares to welcome Indonesia to its inaugural calendar with this weekend’s event; the young drivers in the championship began to arrive on Wednesday.
Amongst the young drivers were the local hopefuls Presley Martono (INA, Car #32) and Keanon Santoso (INA, Car #88) who arrived at the Sentul International Circuit early to prepare with their driver coaches. Amongst the day’s preparations included the standard track familiarisation and debriefs with the engineers and coaches.
Presley Martono, Car #32: “As this is my home race, it is obviously special as I have a few friends coming to watch and support me here this weekend. This is definitely a huge motivation for me to do well, particularly as I have never had that kind of support at race events, as typically it has always been my father that accompanies me to my races. It is also nice to be here, as I don’t need to fly out! I am really looking forward to racing here as I have never raced on Sentul before, though I have been practicing the track on the simulator. It does seem like a tricky circuit with a lot of banking corners and off-camber, so you have to really pick your line. Generally, it is really good that the F4/SEA is here in Indonesia as I believe it will help boost the local racing scene and provide a strong base for the growth of motorsports in Indonesia.”
Keanon Santoso, Car #88: “Coming into this round, I’m feeling more confident as I believe I have a bit of an advantage as I know the track quite well. This track is very different from other tracks because it is a lot trickier compared to Sepang (Malaysia) or Clark (Philippines) even. I love the high-speed corners like Turn 2 and the last corner, and the chicanes are really fun! It’s nice to be back on clockwise circuit because there less strain on the neck here compared to what I experienced in the Philippines. I hope I can get onto the podium as I am going to give it my all and fly the Indonesian flag!
The weekend’s proceedings will commence on Friday with practice and qualifying followed by the first of six scheduled races.
