Rob Wickens finishes on top at official F2 test
Canadian driver leads Red Bull Junior Team one-two at Snetterton
The first official FIA Formula Two Championship test has
concluded at Snetterton, with Canadian Rob Wickens finishing the
day at the top of the timesheets with a time of 59.433s.
Wickens' flying lap, which was set deep into the afternoon
session, was nearly bettered immediately afterwards by fellow Red
Bull junior driver Mirko Bortolotti, but the Italian missed out by
just 0.168s. "It was a good reward and a good way to end the first
test day of testing," Wickens stated, "but ultimately
it's only the first day of a long season. I really enjoyed it and I
felt very comfortable in the car. The competition is very tight. I
was surprised at one point when I was only three tenths off the
best time, but I was way down in the overall positions. It's
definitely what you can expect from the whole season and I think it
should be good."
Bortolotti, who was fourth in the morning session, insisted
that his main focus had been on getting to grips with the car: "To
be honest I just wanted to learn the car and track today so I
wasn't focussed on times, but when I saw that I was second I was
really pleased. I am happy with the work we have done and I am
enjoying it a lot. All the guys from Williams F1 and MotorSport
Vision have done a great job. The car is great and I am really
proud to be a part of this championship."
Six other drivers dipped below the one minute mark, with Formula
Palmer Audi graduate Alex Brundle ending up third quickest. "I knew
the lap was pretty quick," he declared. "I feel really comfortable
in the car and it is good to know that I am there or thereabouts. I
really love driving this car - it is mega."
Experienced Spaniard Andy Soucek was the only driver to set a
sub-one minute time in both the morning and afternoon - his
afternoon lap of 59.763s was good enough for fourth place. Philipp
Eng and Milos Pavlovic were fifth and sixth respectively, but were
unable to improve on their early morning pace. Julien Jousse,
Sebastian Hohenthal, Mikhail Aleshin and Tobias Hegewald rounded
out the top ten.
The 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship looks set to be remarkably
close, with a little over one second covering the top 20 drivers at
the end of the day. All cars ran today (Wednesday) with brand new
bespoke F2 tyres from Avon and the Williams JPH1 enjoyed good
reliability with every driver completing more than 50 laps during
the day. Natacha Gachnang had the most track time, completing 94
laps in her new F2 car.
Official test times - Snetterton 6 May - COMBINED
SESSIONS:
1. Robert WICKENS CAN Red
Bull, Lukoil 59.433s
2. Mirko BORTOLOTTI ITA Red
Bull 59.601s +0.168
3. Alex BRUNDLE GBR SEN, GAC,
Nasstar 59.655s + 0.222
4. Andy SOUCEK ESP
FK-Automotive 59.763s +0.330
5. Philipp ENG Aut 59.963s
+0.530
6. Milos PAVLOVIC SRB 59.970s
+0.537
7. Julien JOUSSE FRA
E.Leclerc 59.974s +0.541
8. Sebastian HOHENTHAL SWE
Mafi 1:00.070s +0.637
9. Mikhail ALESHIN RUS Red Bull,
Lukoil 1:00.147s +0.714
10. Tobias HEGEWALD GER Hegewald
1:00.164s +0.731
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full classification