Jousse takes superb maiden F2 win
Frenchman converts pole position to race two victory
Frenchman Julien Jousse, who started on pole position, took a
dominant maiden victory in race two of the FIA Formula Two
Championship at Donington Park this afternoon (Sunday).
Jousse made a fantastic getaway as the lights went out,
whilst Kazim Vasiliauskas also had a storming start - the
Lithuanian got by Sebastian Hohenthal and Mirko
Bortolotti around the outside of Redgate to move into second.
An incident at the Esses on the first lap involving multiple
cars towards the back of the field eliminated Jason Moore, Armaan
Ebrahim, Jens Höing, Nicola De Marco and Tom Gladdis, and
brought out the safety car for three laps. At the restart, Jousse
pulled out a good advantage whilst Alex Brundle and Robert Wickens
made contact at the Craner Curves. The young Briton made heavy
contact with the barriers and both drivers were out on the
spot.
Jousse continued to pull away from Vasiliauskas whilst an intense
battle raged behind, as Mirko Bortolotti, Sebastian Hohenthal and
Andy Soucek all scrapped for third place. Soucek made a remarkable
pass on Hohenthal on lap 17 at the Craner Curves and quickly set
about catching Bortolotti - the Spaniard applying intense pressure
on the reigning Italian Formula 3 champion.
Bortolotti produced a superb defensive display to hold Soucek at
bay as the pair went side-by-side through Redgate, Hollywood and
the Craner Curves. Soucek was forced to concede and Bortolotti
clinched the final podium position, whilst Jousse took victory by
more than 15 seconds from Vasiliauskas.
"I'm happy because everything went right in this race,"
said Jousse. "It was not the case this morning, because I
made a big mistake and missed an opportunity to score big points.
I'm happy to win after this pole. I was quick all weekend and I am
happy to confirm that with a win. I don't know Oschersleben, so I
hope to learn it very quickly and get the same result."
Vasiliauskas also scored his best result of the season with
second and returned to the podium for the first time since the
inaugural race in Valencia: "The start was not so bad,"
commented the 19-year-old. "I used the boost and
Bortolotti and Hohenthal were fighting on the inside of the corner.
They both braked early so I just tried to go around the outside and
I passed them. Then at the restart I made a mistake because I tried
to press the boost but instead I pushed the wrong button!
Bortolotti almost overtook me but I defended and after that I just
tried to focus on my race."
Bortolotti was relieved to score his third podium of
the season after a race of relentless pressure from behind:
"I'm happy to be back on the podium," said the Italian. "It was a
really difficult race for me because I was under pressure
throughout the race. I had a close moment going side by side with
Soucek, but it was fun."
Sebastian Hohenthal held off both Tobias Hegewald and Mikhail
Aleshin to take fifth, whilst Miloš Pavlović rounded
out the points in eighth position. Carlos Iaconelli and Philipp Eng
were ninth and tenth respectively.
Germán Sánchez and Jolyon Palmer both enjoyed good
runs just outside the top ten - 11th place for Sánchez
equalling his best performance of the season. Edoardo Piscopo
retired late on, as did Natacha Gachnang after a spin at
Goddards.
Race 2 - Donington Park - Provisional
Classification:
1. Julien Jousse, 25 laps
2. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +15.116s
3. Mirko Bortolotti, +17.858s
4. Andy Soucek, +18.318s
5. Sebastian Hohenthal, +19.315s
6. Tobias Hegewald, +19.948s
7. Mikhail Aleshin, +20.383s
8. Miloš Pavlović, +21.440s
9. Carlos Iaconelli, +23.886s
10. Philipp Eng, +24.301s