Battle heats up for second and third
Eight drivers still in contention for FIA Superlicence eligibility heading into Barcelona
The battle for second and third spots in the 2009 FIA Formula
Two Championship is heating up, with eight drivers still in
contention heading into the final two rounds of the season at
Barcelona this weekend (31 October/ 1 November).
Six drivers still have a chance of finishing second, including the
Red Bull trio of Robert Wickens, Mikhail Aleshin and Mirko
Bortolotti, plus previous race winners Julien Jousse, Tobias
Hegewald and Kazim Vasiliauskas. In addition, Philipp Eng - who won
the opening race at Brands Hatch - and Miloš
Pavlović can clinch third spot if results go their way on the
weekend.
All eight drivers will be hoping to join newly-crowned champion
Andy Soucek in qualifying for a prestigious FIA Superlicence,
required to compete in Formula One Grands Prix. Formulatwo.com
caught up with several of the contenders ahead of Formula Two's
final weekend of 2009.
Robert Wickens: "Following the test on Monday in
Barcelona, everything is looking pretty positive. I was almost
always in the top three, and felt very good with old tyres. I was
able to get a lot done to develop the car, and in the end I
finished up P3 without using the boost and after already doing a
run on new tyres.
"My goals haven't changed at all, and if anything actually look
more promising after the test. A win in race one will clinch second
for myself, regardless of where others finish, so that's the
target. Hopefully I can get two poles, two fastest laps and another
win, and do the 'Spanish sweep' in Formula Two!
"The FIA Superlicence is a great motivation, as it really opens
doors and provides you with a lot of opportunities. Just look at
Jaime Alguersauri and Romain Grosjean this year, and even more
recently (Kamui) Kobayashi - they all got their chance because they
had a Superlicence, so it's a great prize to receive."
Mikhail Aleshin: "Of course my target for the
weekend is to fight for second in the championship. For me that is
the most important thing. You never know how everything will go on
the weekend, but to fight Robert (Wickens) I'll need to be in the
top three in both races.
"The FIA Superlicence is very important to me, especially as I
would be the first Russian to ever qualify for one. The most
important thing though is to fight for the race wins and for
championship position - the Superlicence is like an extra prize,
but as a racing driver you always want to finish as high up as
possible anyway."
Mirko Bortolotti: "I'm going into the weekend with
the correct mentality - concentrating on the race weekend, looking
to finish at the top and doing my best as always. We lost some
important points in the second race at Imola, but we did some good
work and hopefully we can keep building on that.
"It's not an issue racing against the other Red Bull guys - we have
the same sponsor but we're all racing against each other. Everyone
is challenging to be at the front, but I just want to focus on my
race. It's not easy for me because I don't know the circuit as well
as the others - this is my first time here - but the target is
still to finish on the top in both races."
Kazim Vasiliauskas: "Its going to be hard to
finish in the top three because I am ten points down in P7, but
anything can happen on a race weekend. I've scored podiums in three
of my last five races, including one victory, so I want to show the
same performance and be at the top in Barcelona.
"I'm not worried about finishing the test in P8, because we were
trying to change a lot of things on the car. I still have Thursday
and Friday to learn the circuit as well, so I'm confident I will be
at the front. Whatever happens I would be happy to finish seventh
in the championship, but if I could finish fourth or even third it
would be incredible. The Superlicence is a great prize and a really
big opportunity, but I always try my best whenever I race so it
doesn't change my approach this weekend."
Miloš Pavlović: "My main focus is just
to try and win one race before the end of the season. It has been a
frustrating year, because racing is about confidence and it hasn't
gone right for me. I'm only focussing on my race this weekend; I
don't care about any of the competition, I'm just going to go for
it. I'm racing for myself and targeting victory - hopefully there
will be good luck around car 25 this weekend!"
The first race in Barcelona commences Saturday 31 October
at 14.00 CET. Race two will take place on Sunday 1 November at
12.05 CET. Both races will be streamed live via the F2
website.