14 replies to this topic

[HistoryFan]

Rio Haryanto will test a Virgin F1 car in Abu Dhabi in the end of the season.
He is an Indonesian racing driver. In F1 there wasn't yet an Indonesian, but what about in Formula Libre races or something like that?
Did anyone know a Indonesian driving in a GP car? Perhaps before 1950?

[David McKinney]

The only ones I can think of are those who raced at Macau, Singapore etc in the '70s

Heng Kyoey Ooi (Hengkie Iriawan) raced in a New Zealand F5000 race in 1969 (albeit in an F2-spec car)

Edited by David McKinney, 12 September 2010 - 08:51.

[HistoryFan]

Yes, there were many Indonesian racing driver, but in a GP car?

[Catalina Park]

Yes, there were many Indonesian racing driver, but in a GP car?

Define GP car. Do you mean an F1 car? Or a car that raced in a GP?

[David McKinney]

Although he mentions Formule Libre, I suspect by referring to pre-1950 he means an Indonesian driving a Grand Prix car anywhere, any time

[Vitesse2]

The nearest I can think of would be Henry Täuber, Alfa voiturette privateer in the early 30s. He was of course Swiss, but was born in what was then Batavia in the Dutch East Indies - now Jakarta.

[HistoryFan]

Although he mentions Formule Libre, I suspect by referring to pre-1950 he means an Indonesian driving a Grand Prix car anywhere, any time

So it is.

[Jimisgod]

Have there been Indonesian riders in MotoGP or the historic equivalent, motorcycles tend to be a more popular category of racing within Indonesia, formally or informally.

[Miles Fenton]

If you include Thailand then consider Prince Bira of course.

[David McKinney]

Yes, and if we include Australia, we could have several

Australia's as much a part of indonesia as Thailand is

Edited by David McKinney, 12 September 2010 - 17:49.

[Richard Jenkins]

Ananda Mikola was probably the closest in recent years, driving in F3000 and being linked to F1, but I don't actually recall him having a test drive in a F1 car. After his non-racing "antics" of recent years, I doubt he ever will now....

[HistoryFan]

With which team was he linked?

[Tim Murray]

From this article at grandprix.com, from 2001:

Mikola had been linked with a long-term deal with Prost Grand Prix but Alain Prost's decision to sell shares in his team to the Diniz Family rather than to a little-publicized Indonesian-Singapore group of investors meant that Mikola has decided to look elsewhere.

[Paul Hamilton]

The only ones I can think of are those who raced at Macau, Singapore etc in the '70s

Heng Kyoey Ooi (Hengkie Iriawan) raced in a New Zealand F5000 race in 1969 (albeit in an F2-spec car)

Hengkie Iriawan drove a variety of Brabham, Elfin and Palliser F2 and sports racing cars in SE Asia during the late 60's and early 70's and, with some help from Graeme Lawrence, he ran his Elfin 600C FVA in NZ at Bay Park and Pukekohe in 1969. He was quite successful with wins in the 1968 Malaysian GP, the 1969 and 1970 Malaysian national championships, the 1970 Penang GP and second placings in the 1968 Macau GP and the 1971 Penang event. He was held in pretty high regard by Australian and NZ competitors visiting the area but was killed in a karting accident in around 1972/73.

[HistoryFan]

Thank you both.