Formula Two news

Wickens takes second pole-position at Valencia

Red Bull Junior driver Robert Wickens produced a stunning late lap to snatch pole position for tomorrow's second round of the FIA Formula Two Championship. Local hero Andy Soucek was in second position, with reigning Italian F3 champion Mirko Bortolotti in third. It was another incredibly close session, with less than four tenths of a second covering the top ten drivers.

Wickens set his fastest lap with four minutes of the session to go, pushing Soucek - who had shortly before stormed into pole position - into second place. The Canadian traded quickest times with Mirko Bortolotti in the early stages of the session, but having been bumped out of the top three, he saved his best lap until last to set the fastest lap of the weekend: "I was really pleased with my first run," said Wickens. "It was an old tyre run so to set a 1:27.7 was pretty satisfying. We made some changes and that seemed to help for my second stint. The conditions weren't ideal for my fastest lap, but it was good enough to take pole."

Andy Soucek held pole until Wickens' fastest lap, but the Spaniard had to settle for second: "My lap was better than yesterday, but still not good enough for pole!" said Soucek. "I think we have real good pace for the race - we've done some race simulations in testing and I think that will help."

Mirko Bortlotti was unable to set a run on his second set of new tyres, but his impressive first stint means he will line up third for tomorrow's (Sunday) race two: "I saved a set of new tyres for today, so the idea was to get a feel of the track and then change tyres halfway through," commented Bortolotti. "Unfortunately I had a problem with my second set of new tyres, without which perhaps I could have been pole, but I'm looking forward to the first race."

Nicola de Marco was the most improved driver in the F2 field. The Italian was running quickest early on, but ultimately had to settle for fourth at the finish. Philipp Eng and Mikhail Aleshin left it late to set their fastest laps - the pair will start the race from fifth and sixth respectively.

Carlos Iaconelli improved his time from yesterday's qualifying, but in today's quicker session, his lap was only good enough for seventh. Kazim Vasiliauskas again impressed - he will line up eighth after setting a quick lap in the final moments. Julien Jousse and Henry Surtees completed the top ten.

The session was red flagged with less than a minute remaining as Pietro Gandolfi, German Sanchez and Jens Höing all went off in quick succession.

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• 01 Nov.
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• 30 Oct.
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• 29 Oct.
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• 18 Sep.
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  • Photos: Friday at Imola
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