The 1993 Indonesian Grand Prix was a Formula Brabham race held on August 21–22, 1993 at the Sentul International Circuit near Citeureup, Indonesia. It was the first round of a two event Pan-Pacific series for the Australian-based Formula Brabham category.

Summary The 1993 was the first race held at the newly constructed state-owned Sentul International Circuit, built in an attempt to secure a Formula One Grand Prix from 1994 onwards. With no local form of open wheel motor racing occurring in Indonesia (as it had been several years since a motor racing circuit had operated in the country), organisers looked into importing a field of racing. After investigating the potential costs of importing the European Formula 3000 Championship and several Formula 3 series, the geographically closer Australian Formula Brabham series was selected.

To increase local interest, a selection of Indonesian drivers were brought in to fill the field. These were led by Tommy Suharto, son of incumbent Indonesian president Suharto, but also included Tinton Soeprapto (father of Ananda Mikola and Moreno Soeprapto) and leading Indonesian driving instructor . For Suharto's protection, a 300m long pane of bulletproof glass was installed around the main grandstand and Indonesian military were stationed in the surrounding mountainside.

1989 Driver to Europe champion Mark Larkham qualified on pole for the two-legged affair ahead of Paul Stokell and reigning CAMS Gold Star winner Mark Skaife. The leading local entrant was Bahar in 12th. Rival competitors were forced into signing a waiver allowing Suharto to compete with a Mugen-Honda V8 Formula 3000 engine in his car (compared to the regular Holden V6) but in the interests of fairness he was required to start from the back of the grid. Larkham went on to win both races as Suharto crashed at the first corner of the first heat in his overpowered Reynard. Stokell trailed home Larkham in each heat, followed by Graham Watson in Heat 1 and Skaife in Heat 2. Bahar remained the best local with a fourth-placed finish in the opening race.

Classification Qualifying Pos No Nat Driver Car Lap Gap 1 2 Mark Larkham Reynard 91D Holden 1:24.217 2 9 Paul Stokell Reynard 90D Holden 1:24.986 +0.769 3 1 Mark Skaife Lola T91/50 Holden 1:25.551 +1.334 4 Simon Kane Ralt RT21 Holden 1:25.976 +1.759 5 70 Kevin Weeks Reynard 90D Holden 6 74 Chris Hocking Reynard 90D Holden 7 78 Brian Sampson Cheetah Mk.9 Holden 8 Mark McLaughlin Reynard 90D Holden 9 5 Mark Poole Shrike NB89H Holden 10 Graham Watson Ralt RT21 Holden 11 99 Albert Callegher Ralt RT21 Holden 12 Aswin Bahar Reynard 90D Holden 13 18 Chris Clearihan Ralt RT20 Holden 14 8 John Hermann Ralt RT20 Holden 15 Tinton Soeprapto Reynard 90D Holden 16 Amin Mahfud Reynard 90D Holden 18 Colin Milne Hocking 911 Holden 19 3 Alan Galloway Reynard 90D Holden 20* Tommy Soeharto Reynard 92D Mugen-Honda

Tommy Soeharto, the youngest son of then Indonesian president Suharto, qualified 17th but engine problems forced the team to replace the V6 Holden engine with a V8 Mugen-Honda Formula 3000 engine and only started with the approval of the other competitors.

Race 1 Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Mark Larkham Reynard 91D Holden 20 1 20 2 9 Paul Stokell Reynard 90D Holden 20 2 15 3 Graham Watson Ralt RT21 Holden 20 10 12 4 Aswin Bahar Reynard 90D Holden 19 12 10 5 78 Brian Sampson Cheetah Mk.9 Holden 7 8 6 Simon Kane Ralt RT21 Holden 4 6 7 1 Mark Skaife Lola T91/50 Holden 3 4 8 18 Chris Clearihan Ralt RT20 Holden 13 3 9 Tinton Soeprapto Reynard 90D Holden 15 2 10 8 John Hermann Ralt RT20 Holden 14 1 Ret 70 Kevin Weeks Reynard 90D Holden Ret 74 Chris Hocking Reynard 90D Holden Ret 5 Mark Poole Shrike NB89H Holden Ret 99 Albert Callegher Ralt RT21 Holden Ret 3 Alan Galloway Reynard 90D Holden Ret Tommy Soeharto Reynard 92D Mugen-Honda

Race 2 Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Mark Larkham Reynard 91D Holden 20 1 20 2 9 Paul Stokell Reynard 90D Holden 20 2 15 3 1 Mark Skaife Lola T91/50 Holden 7 12 4 Simon Kane Ralt RT21 Holden 6 10 5 70 Kevin Weeks Reynard 90D Holden 8 6 Graham Watson Ralt RT21 Holden 3 6 7 Aswin Bahar Reynard 90D Holden 4 4 8 18 Chris Clearihan Ralt RT20 Holden 8 3 9 78 Brian Sampson Cheetah Mk.9 Holden 5 2 10 8 John Hermann Ralt RT20 Holden 10 1 Ret Tinton Soeprapto Reynard 90D Holden 9 Ret 74 Chris Hocking Reynard 90D Holden Ret 99 Albert Callegher Ralt RT21 Holden Ret Tommy Soeharto Reynard 92D Mugen-Honda Ret Amin Mahfud Reynard 90D Holden DNS 5 Mark Poole Shrike NB89H Holden

Points Pos Driver R1 R2 Total 1 Mark Larkham 20 20 40 2 Paul Stokell 15 15 30 3 Graham Watson 12 6 18 4 Mark Skaife 4 12 16 5 Simon Kane 6 10 16 6 Aswin Bahar 10 4 14 7 Brian Sampson 8 2 10 8 Kevin Weeks 8 8 9 Chris Clearihan 3 3 6 10 John Hermann 1 1 2 11 Tinton Soeprapto 2 2

References