Formula Two news
Soucek fastest in first F2 practice
29 May 2009 / Results / Results / PhotosSpain's Andy Soucek has finished fastest in the new Formula Two championship's inaugural practice session in Valencia. The 23-year-old topped the timesheets at the Ricardo Tormo circuit from German Tobias Hegewald with Canadian hopeful Rob Wickens third. Henry Surtees was the leading British driver in eighth place.
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| Soucek talks setup in the garage |
Soucek's leading time of 1.27.800 was the only sub-1.28 of the session, finishing three and three quarters seconds faster than his closest challenger. With Formula 2 making a return in its new guise, the time was the first registered lap since 1984, the final year before Formula 3000 took over.
Hegewald was the man on top for the first minutes of the half-hour session before being replaced by the local's favourite before the twenty minute mark. "I feel quite good for sure," Hegewald said after the session. "I think I did a good lap but there is still some time to find - the car felt good to drive; I'm not thinking too much about qualifying and the races yet - I'm feeling hopeful about the weekend but there is still a long way to go."
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| John and Henry Surtees hope for a strong start this weekend |
Wickens' third quickest time remained from the early stages of the session. "It's a fairly solid start," said the F3 Euroseries and World Series by Renault driver. "You definitely want to be in the top three whenever you can. From my side there's still a lot to improve - I did my fastest lap on my first open run and then struggled with traffic, so there's big room for improvement. This weekend I'm aiming for two wins and two fastest laps!"
Serbia's Milos Pavlovic, in fourth position at the end of the session, remained in the pits for much of the available time as Italy's Mirko Bortlotti and Russia's Mikhail Aleshin - like Wickens, Red Bull Junior Team drivers - rounded out the top six.
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| Alex Brundle was thirteenth fastest in first practice in Valencia |
Italian Formula 3 runner-up Edoardo Piscopo, who tested Ferrari's Formula One car last year, was seventh quickest with leading British talent Henry Surtees - son of 1964 World Champion John - in eighth position. Alex Brundle was the UK's second-fastest contender and thirteenth overall.
One red flag flew during the thirty minutes as Finnish driver Henri Karjalainen spun off the circuit, remaining in 17th place. Indian Armaan Ebrahim did not set a time and will be looking to complete more mileage in the second session this afternoon.
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