Soucek takes Race Two win in Brno
Spaniard claims maiden F2 victory ahead of Jousse and De Marco
Andy Soucek has won his first FIA Formula Two Championship race
in Brno, Czech Republic, this afternoon (Sunday).
Front row starters Henry Surtees and Mikhail Aleshin did not get
away from the line, which allowed Nicola De Marco into the
lead. Soucek leapt from fifth on the grid up to second after
he passed Julien Jousse around the outside at turn one.
The opening lap drama continued at turn two as seven cars were
involved in a collision, which left Alex Brundle, Henri
Karjalainen, German Sanchez, Pietro Gandolfi and Carlos Iaconelli
out of the race. Jens Hoing and Robert Wickens were able to
continue, although Wickens later retired.
De Marco dominated much of the race, before making a small
mistake and dropping down to fourth on lap ten. The Italian was
able to recover from the spin and re-passed Edoardo Piscopo in
the closing stages to take the final podium position.
This left Andy Soucek to march on to his maiden F2 victory after
a faultless display. "It was a great race," said Soucek. "I got a
good start and I was going to attack Nicola, but it was too risky.
It was a good fight with Julien, but to get my first win was just
amazing for us this weekend. The next round at Spa is my favourite
track, so I hope to fight for podiums or even a victory there."
Julien Jousse scored his first Formula Two podium, taking second
at the finish. "It was tricky at the beginning with the cars
stopped in front of me, but I got a good start anyway. The fight
with Andy was very hard, but it was good points for the
championship and I hope I can now continue like this."
It was a bittersweet moment for De Marco who scored his first
podium, but had looked certain to win the race until his spin. "I
made a mistake and I am very disappointed," commented the Italian.
"I had a good start and I was quick throughout the race. I normally
do not make mistakes but I did in this moment. I lost out on
victory, but at least it is my first podium in Formula Two."
Piscopo held fourth ahead of Milos Pavlovic and Armaan Ebrahim
who rounded out the top six. The fight for seventh was intense as
Sebastian Hohenthal, Tobias Hegewald, Kazim Vasiliauskas and
Philipp Eng swapped places at will. Contact was made between
Hohenthal and Iaconelli, which dropped the Swede down to 12th.
Hohenthal also later collided with championship leader Mirko
Bortolotti - the Italian's race ending in the gravel. It was
Hegewald who went on to steal seventh, with Vasiliauskas clinching
the final championship point.
Amazingly, 17 drivers have already scored points after
just four rounds of the championship. All three Red Bull Junior
drivers failed to finish the second race at Brno, but they still
hold a 1-2-3 lead in the championship. Bortolotti leads Wickens by
one point, with Aleshin a further four points back. Impressive
results for Julien Jousse and Andy Soucek have thrust the pair back
into contention towards the top of the standings, having scored 16
and 15 points respectively.
FIA Formula Two Championship - Round Four -
Brno, Czech Republic
1. Andy Soucek, 14 laps
2. Julien Jousse, +2.165s
3. Nicola De Marco, +7.075s
4. Edoardo Piscopo, +10.044s
5. Milos Pavlovic, +11.498s
6. Armann Ebrahim, +14.426s
7. Tobias Hegewald, +18.198s
8. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +18.864s
Click here to
see the full provisional results.