23-year-old German pilot Johannes Theobald made his debut in the
2010 FIA Formula Two Championship at his home round at
Oschersleben, where he demonstrated immediate pace and confidence
behind the wheel to challenge for top ten honours in only his
second ever race.
Theobald's debut followed a maiden F2 test at Brands Hatch in
July, where he joined older brother Julian. Despite difficult wet
conditions, Johannes demonstrated marked improvement to end the day
just over one second off his brother, and little more than two
second off Jolyon Palmer's ultimate pace.
The improvements continued at Oschersleben, where Johannes
impressed from the outset - setting the tenth fastest time in first
practice before improving further to go ninth after the second
session. Even with the new element of fresh rubber to contend with
he was just 1.3 seconds off pole in first qualifying, and he
complemented that with a fine drive in race two to finish 13th -
less than four seconds down the road from eventual runner-up Jolyon
Palmer.
The best was yet to come however, as Theobald qualified inside
the top 16 for both races before narrowly missing out on a points
finish in both races as he came through the field to finish 11th
and 12th respectively.
Johannes' spell in F2 was all the more impressive after the
German opted to move away from motorsport for a two-year break as
he completed his academic studies. He has previously raced in
Formula Renault 3.5, and finished runner-up in the Recaro Formel 3
Trophy and Formula König.