Soucek takes dominant second win
Spaniard takes seventh victory of the year ahead of De Marco and Wickens
Formula Two champion Andy Soucek took a dominant second victory
in Barcelona, leading almost from lights to flag after jumping
Robert Wickens at the start.
Nicola De Marco also passed Wickens on the inside going down to
turn one, and held second for the duration of the race. Wickens
completed the podium despite heavy pressure from Kazim
Vasiliauskas, and in doing so secured second in the overall
championship standings. Mikhail Aleshin clinched third overall, and
the Red Bull-backed duo both qualify for an FIA Superlicence.
De Marco and Vasiliauskas both made fantastic starts, whilst
Philipp Eng dropped down the order after a slow getaway from third
on the grid. The recovering Austrian immediately set about
attacking Julien Jousse for eighth as the pair
tussled throughout the opening laps.
There was contact between Natacha Gachnang, Miloš
Pavlović and Jason Moore at turn ten on lap one, which
saw both Pavlović and Moore tumble down the order.
Pavlović spun again while attacking Jens Höing on lap
three and the Serbian was then left to fight from the back of the
field.
Alex Brundle made a good move by Gachnang to sneak into 12th, as
Soucek was disappearing into the distance at the front. De Marco
was under pressure from Wickens and the fighting duo had slipped
back by more than four seconds after just three laps. Vasiliauskas,
Hegewald and Vautier comfortably held fourth, fifth and sixth,
as the battle raged on behind for the final points paying
positions.
Aleshin held off Jousse while the Frenchman had his mirrors full
of Eng and Armaan Ebrahim. Britons Tom Gladdis and Jason Moore were
making their way through from the back and the duo both moved by
Henri Karjalainen, as Ollie Hancock endured a wild spin at turn
eight behind.
There was contact between Jack Clarke and Sebastian
Hohenthal on the start/finish straight during lap
seven as Clarke closed the door on the attacking Swede. Mirko
Bortolotti's chances of finishing in
the championship's top three ended when the Italian pulled off
the circuit late on. Bortolotti experienced a difficult season
finale weekend and never looked capable of scoring the points
required to challenge his Red Bull colleagues. Hohenthal spun into
the gravel and out of the race at turn three and Höing also
retired late on.
Back at the front and Soucek had extended his lead to more than
seven seconds as the crossed the line for the final time, ending a
dominant race and a dominant season for the outstanding
Spaniard.
De Marco held off Wickens to take second, as Wickens settled for
third in the race and the runner-up spot overall.
Vasiliauskas, Hegewald and the impressive Vautier rounded out the
top six, ahead of Aleshin who clinched third in the championship
race - becoming the first Russian to earn qualification for an FIA
Superlicense.
Jousse scored the final championship point of the season ahead
of Eng and Ebrahim. Jolyon Palmer and Alex Brundle completed a
decent finish to their first season of international racing by
finishing 11th and 12th respectively.
The race was a fitting end to a wonderful first season of the
FIA Formula Two Championship. Preparations are well underway for
the 2010 campaign with winter testing starting in Valencia in
just over one month's time, but for now it is Andy Soucek's moment
- seven time race winner and Formula Two champion.
"I don't have many words honestly," said Soucek. "It has
been amazing. I'm sure this victory is not only the work I did on
the championship, I think it is also thanks to a couple
of people that have really helped me throughout my career. I
had everything I needed to win it, that's true; nothing was
missing. I think I did a good job but everybody surrounding me
really pushed hard as well. I have to thank everybody.
"I've said already that Formula Two for me is the best
championship I've ever been in in terms of organisation, and it's
only in the first year. I'm absolutely going to back the
championship and be behind it because I really liked it and enjoyed
the whole year. I have to congratulate Robert as well to be second
because I think he deserved to challenge me for the
championship.
"Now I can only say thank you to everybody - seven wins is huge,
I think 11 podiums, I don't know I lost count, and it's the best
result of my career and my life. Hopefully this gives me the chance
to be in Formula One next year."
FIA Formula Two Championship
- Race Two - Barcelona:
1. Andy Soucek, 20 laps
2. Nicola De Marco, +7.538s
3. Robert Wickens, +9.645s
4. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +10.197s
5. Tobias Hegewald, +14.652s
6. Tristan Vautier, +19.626s
7. Mikhail Aleshin, +21.529s
8. Julien Jousse, +21.892s
9. Philipp Eng, +24.201s
10. Armaan Ebrahim, +25.618s
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