Soucek claims victory in race two at Brands Hatch
Henry Surtees involved in serious accident at Sheene Curve
Andy Soucek has taken victory in this afternoon's
heavily-interrupted race two at Brands Hatch, extending his lead in
the FIA Formula Two Championship.
The Spaniard made an excellent getaway from pole position, but
Mikhail Aleshin made the most ground, moving up from fifth to third
at the first corner. Robert Wickens maintained second in the early
stages.
Behind them, a number of incidents on track and a brief rain
shower on the opening lap led to a number of retirements and three
separate red flag stoppages.
On lap two Kazim Vasiliauskas and Miloš
Pavlović clashed heavily at Paddock Hill Bend, putting the
Serbian out on the spot. Carlos Iaconelli also spun on the exit of
Westfield, having risen from sixth to fourth after a good
start.
The same lap Tobias Hegewald sneaked inside Henry Surtees at
Druids for sixth, and the young Briton spun after getting two
wheels on the grass as he tried to respond. Nicola De Marco also
suffered damage as rain began to fall, and the race directors
called a halt to proceedings as it threatened to turn into a wet
race.
The circuit dried quickly though, and at the restart Soucek held
off the initial advances of Wickens before the pair began to pull
away from Aleshin in third. Jason Moore was enjoying his best run
of the season in ninth, but behind him another incident occured
when Sebastian Hohenthal tried to repass Jack Clarke for ninth -
the Swede's efforts causing him to run wide into the gravel at the
exit of Sheene Curve. As he returned to the circuit his car was
clipped by Germán Sánchez, and the latter became
airborne briefly before coming to a rest in the barriers.
A safety car period followed, but the top eight all maintained
position from the restart. On lap ten Jack Clarke went off at
Westfield and hit the barriers heavily. A wheel from Clarke's
car bounced across the circuit and made contact with the car
of Henry Surtees, who then went off at the following Sheene Curve.
The race was immediately red flagged, whilst Surtees was extricated
from the car and taken to the circuit's medical centre where he was
stabilised before being transferred to hospital. (Click here to read a statement
from Jonathan Palmer regarding Henry Surtees' accident, which
tragically led to the 18-year-old's death)
The race was briefly restarted with no change to the points
paying positions, and Andy Soucek went on to take his second win of
the season. "There was everything in this race," he said - "rain,
incidents, yellow flags, red flags and safety car periods. I knew I
had a good pace and it was all about keeping first
position. It is obviously nice to take the victory and extend
my championship lead, but my thoughts are also with Henry."
Robert Wickens claimed second ahead of fellow Red Bull Junior
Team driver Mikhail Aleshin. "Andy drove a great race, but you
cannot take these kind of races into factor," Wickens reflected. "
I just want to thank my mechanic for a great job all weekend."
Yesterday's winner Philipp Eng brought his car home in fourth,
whilst Mirko Bortolotti held off Tobias Hegewald to finish fifth.
Behind the trio Edoardo Piscopo finished seventh, with Jason Moore
taking his first point of the season with eighth place. Julien
Jousse made up seven places from his starting position to finish
ninth, and Armaan Ebrahim rounded out the top ten having started
from 22nd on the grid.
FIA Formula Two Championshp Race Two - Brands Hatch,
UK:
1. Andy Soucek, 15 laps
2. Robert Wickens, +1.251s
3. Mikhail Aleshin, +4.763s
4. Philipp Eng, +6.858s
5. Mirko Bortolotti, +7.287s
6. Tobias Hegewald, +7.676s
7. Edoardo Piscopo, +8.443s
8. Jason Moore, +9.821s
9. Julien Jousse, +10.393s
10. Armaan Ebrahim, +10.922s