The Indonesian sporting world is entering a new era with Rio Haryanto finally securing a historic deal with UK-based Manor Racing F1 team on Thursday, making him only the third driver from the region to compete in the world'€™s most prestigious car race.

'€œI thank you all for the support. Finally, I'€™ve been announced as a Formula One driver with Manor Racing,'€ Rio told a press conference at state-owned oil and gas Pertamina'€™s office in Jakarta. Pertamina is currently the sole sponsor for Rio.

'€œI hope by working hard, I will not only represent Indonesia in F1 but achieve [something],'€ said the 23-year-old Semarang-born driver.

Rio will be the third Southeast Asian driver to compete in Formula One since the championship started in 1950. The others were Malaysian Alex Yoong, with Minardi in 2001 and 2002, and Thailand'€™s Prince Bira (Birabongse Bhanudej) in the 1950s.

He will be competing against the likes of Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and former champion Sebastian Vettel throughout a 21-race series, starting in Australia and ending in Abu Dhabi.

Joining the conference through video call, the team'€™s racing director Dave Ryan expressed his excitement for having Rio in the team.

'€œHe'€™s a great talent. Hopefully, together we can have a great journey,'€ Ryan, former McLaren Formula One'€™s chief mechanic, said.

Ryan said that the signing of Rio had completed the team'€™s 2016 driver line-up, just a few days before a first round of pre-season tests that commence in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday.

Last week, Manor announced former Mercedes reserve Pascal Wehrlein of Germany as the first driver to secure a seat.

Ahead of the opening race in Melbourne in March, Manor has made several technical changes, including getting support from Mercedes in engines, a wind tunnel, the gearbox and suspension.

Besides bringing in Ryan, the team has also hired former McLaren Formula One'€™s project chief Nikolas Tombazis as chief aerodynamicist, as well as former Scuderia Ferrari Formula One'€™s director of engineering Pat Fry.

'€œWe'€™re in a good shape. We'€™ve made some changes. It'€™s a whole new environment,'€ Ryan said.

In a statement, the team'€™s owner Stephen Fitzpatrick said that he was impressed by Rio'€™s performance over the past years.

'€œHe is tenacious on and off the track and made a big impression on last year'€™s GP2 battle,'€ said Fitzpatrick, referring to a racing competition that is one level away from the F1.

Rio'€™s huge following in Indonesia is great for the team and for F1, he said. '€œThey are keen to see [Rio] on the grid and we'€™re confident that we'€™ll see him enjoying some exciting battles in the year ahead.'€

Rio had been dealing with media coverage as well as public attention over the past few months as he planned to join the 2016 season of F1.

Rio will hit the F1 track in a full season of 21 races as a '€œpay'€ driver for Manor Racing, meaning that he has to bring his own sponsorship that is reportedly worth ¤15 million (US$16.63 million).

Pertamina, which has been a solid backer for Rio since he raced in GP2 in 2012, has raised its financial support from ¤2 million to ¤5 million in 2016 in order to get him to F1.

As for the remainder, Rio hopes for more support from businesspeople as well as the government to jump on to his list of backers.

'€œWe'€™ve brought Rio Haryanto to F1. We'€™re going to see the first Melbourne race, and see what'€™s going to happen in the first half of the season,'€ said Rio'€™s manager Piers Hunnisett.

'€œI'€™m sure a lot of Indonesian companies will [notice] Rio [in the race] and that hopefully more of them will come and join us in sponsoring Rio,'€ he added.
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Rio Haryanto'€™s career

* Sept. 5, 1999: Wins Pertamina National Kart Championship

* Sept. 23, 2001: Wins Asian Formula Cadet Kart Festival III

* 2005: Wins World Kart Challenge

* 2009: Wins the Formula BMW Pacific championship with 11 victories from 15 races

* Nov. 16, 2010: Becomes world'€™s youngest driver to test drive an F1

* July 23, 2011: Wins 5th Series of Race 1 at Nurburgring, Germany

* 2011: Voted Person of the Year (POTY) and wins International Motorsport Driver Achievement Award

* July 13, 2012: Passes F1 test (qualified for F1 Super License), Silverstone, the UK

* 2012: Youngest driver at GP2 Series

* June 30, 2013: GP2 Series runner-up, Silverstone

* May 24, 2014: GP2 Series runner-up, Monte Carlo, Monaco

* April 19, 2015: Wins Bahrain sprint-race, first GP2 Series win after four years competing

* July 5, 2015: Storms to his third sprint-race victory in the GP2 Series in Silverstone

* Dec. 18, 2015 : Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi lobbies businesspeople and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno to garner support for Rio'€™s F1 bid

* Feb. 11, 2016: Manor managing director Abdulla Boulsien has meeting with Imam and Rio in Jakarta

* Feb. 17, 2016: Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (KADIN) pledges support for Rio

* Feb. 18, 2016: Becomes Indonesia'€™s first F1 driver after securing a deal with Manor

Source: http://www.rioharyanto.com/site/profile/chronology and TJP archive

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