Edoardo Piscopo on top at Brands Hatch
Italian heads Surtees and Jousse in thrilling practice session
Italian Edoardo Piscopo set the pace in a fiercely competitive
second free practice at Brands Hatch this afternoon (Friday).
The circuit was damp at the beginning of the session following a
brief sprinkling of rain, but the times soon began to tumble as the
circuit dried and Alex Brundle set the early pace, just as he did
in the morning's free practice.
Andy Soucek quickly set an early benchmark of 1:19.177s, which he
bettered again on the next lap by three tenths of a second -
becoming the first driver to lap in the 1:18s bracket. Julien
Jousse then took his turn at the top, going quickest with a
1:18.551s. He held that advantage for nearly ten minutes, before
Italian Edoardo Piscopo leapt to the top of the timesheets with a
1:18.320s and stayed there until the end of the 30 minute
session.
"I was expecting to be pretty quick," said Piscopo. "I really
love the track and the car feels really competitive. I am really
looking forward to qualifying, but it will be really close because
the whole grid is closely matched."
A light drizzle began to fall in the final five minutes, which
seemingly put pay to any improvements throughout the field. Henry
Surtees was undeterred; however, as he set the second fastest
time as the chequered flag fell - the Briton being
particularly impressive through Surtees Bend, aptly named after his
father John. "The rain came down, but surprisingly it didn't make
too much difference in the conditions. I was able to get a lap in
and got a time good enough for second. I am very confident we can
do the business in any conditions, and it is looking good for
qualifying."
Julien Jousse finished third, ahead of Sebastian
Hohenthal who continues to show his improving pace in F2. Robert
Wickens was fifth, with this morning's pace-setter Mikhail Aleshin
in 6th.
Nicola De Marco improved to take seventh, whilst early
pace-setter Andy Soucek had to settle for eighth - the Spaniard
spinning at Stirlings whilst on a flying lap, which would have
improved his time. Carlos Iaconelli left it late to set his best
time for ninth and Jolyon Palmer rounded out the top ten - the
young Briton having held third in the early stages. The times were
extraordinarily close, with one second covering the top 13
drivers.
Philipp Eng, Natacha Gachnang and Jack Clarke all had moments
during the session, whilst Pietro Gandolfi went off at Sheene Curve
and Jens Hoing beached himself at Druids Hairpin - both incidents
bringing out the yellow flags.
FIA Formula Two Championshp Free Practice One -
Brands Hatch, UK:
1. Edoardo Piscopo, 1:18.320s
2. Henry Surtees, +0.200s
3. Julien Jousse, +0.231s
4. Sebastian Hohenthal, +0.292s
5. Robert Wickens, +0.317s
6. Mikhail Aleshin, +0.333s
7. Nicola De Marco, +0.334s
8. Andy Soucek, +0.419s
9. Carlos Iaconelli, +0.449s
10. Jolyon Palmer, +0.553s
Click here for the full
results.