Two dominant wins in a row for young German
Tobias Hegewald has won his second race of the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, after another superb lights-to-flag victory this afternoon (Sunday).
The German driver got a good start and went on to extend his lead by around half a second per lap; he eventually won the race by more than seven seconds. Andy Soucek claimed second place after seeing off the attentions of Robert Wickens midway through the 15 lap contest.
Wickens completed the podium – the Red Bull-backed Canadian’s car had to be repaired overnight following heavy damage sustained in a startline shunt yesterday, but showed little ill-effect when he battled past Alex Brundle at Eau Rouge on the first lap. Having initially lost third position to the young Briton at La Source, Wickens responded with a banzai move at the legendary corner. He went on to pressure Soucek, before settling for third and six championship points.
Milo Pavlović took fourth after passing Alex Brundle on lap 11. Julien Jousse also attacked Brundle in the closing stages, but was unable to make a move stick. Kazim Vasiliauskas took seventh after a fantastic move past Mikhail Aleshin, the Lithuanian getting a great run across the start/finish line and completing the move on the inside at La Source.
Aleshin clinched the final point, ahead of his Red Bull Junior colleague Mirko Bortolotti. Carlos Iaconelli rounded out the top ten.
Jolyon Palmer and Jack Clarke both retired on the first lap after an ambitious move by Clarke at turn 7 resulted in a collision. Henry Surtees was also forced to retire after being hit by Germán Sánchez at the entry to Eau Rouge on lap 3. Sánchez was able to continue but eventually pulled into the pits on lap 14.
Hegewald, though, was never threatened on his way to a dominant win. The German driver has topped all six sessions at Spa this weekend. Soucek has returned to the top of the overall standings – two points ahead of Wickens and three ahead of Jousse. ‚Star of Spa‘ Tobias Hegewald is now fourth in the championship, just six points off the lead.
Tobias Hegewald said: "It has been an amazing weekend – I was fastest in every session and I came away with maximum points. The race was not easy at the start because my car felt nervous, but I took the win and now I can allow myself to focus on fighting for the championship. I have 22 points, which is not very far from the top, and I’m really keen to win it if I can. Spa is my favourite track and I love driving here – the weekend has been just perfect!"
Andy Soucek said: "I knew I could make a good start and hopefully overtake Tobias, but he has had a perfect weekend with no mistakes at all. The most I could do was brake a little bit later than Robert and get second which is good for the championship – I recovered from my penalty yesterday and I am again leading it. Hopefully Tobias will not have the same weekend at Brands Hatch!"
Robert Wickens said: "I’m happy to be back on the podium but I definitely need to do better at Brands Hatch. Another six points doesn’t hurt but obviously I would have rather got four more, but it’s still a long year."
FIA Formula Two Championship Round 6 Results – Spa, Belgium:
1. Tobias Hegewald, 15 laps
2. Andy Soucek, +6.855
3. Robert Wickens, +8.878
4. Milo Pavlović, +14.977
5. Alex Brundle, +17.638
6. Julien Jousse, +18.158
7. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +19.601
8. Mikhail Aleshin, +20.451
9. Mirko Bortolotti, +21.111
10. Carlos Iaconelli, +27.803