Archiv der Kategorie Formula 2
Kelvin Snoeks hits the top prior to qualifying
3.9.2010 von Wolfgang.
Dutchman enjoys his best session of the year in second practice
Dutchman Kelvin Snoeks had his best ever session in Formula Two during today’s second free practice session, running at the front for the majority of the half hour before recording the fastest time.
Snoeks seems to get on well with this circuit, with his best race in Formula Master last season occurring at this very track, and he built on a third place finish this morning by topping the timesheets in second practice - dipping into the 1m21s barrier twice, the only man to do so during the 30 minutes.
Jack Clarke was second, although he lost time mid way through the session after spinning into the gravel at turn five. He was unable to recover under his own steam, but was lifted out of the gravel by the marshals and returned to the track, setting his best time late on in the session.
Kazim Vasiliauskas showed good consistency to record the third fastest time, with Ricardo Teixeira continuing his impressive pace from the opening session to wind up the session in fourth.
This morning’s fastest man Sergey Afanasiev could only manage fifth this time around, while championship contenders Jolyon Palmer and Dean Stoneman were sixth and 11th.
Benjamin Bailly and Ebrahim were seventh and eighth while Johannes Theobald continued to impress on his F2 debut with the ninth fastest time.
The warm sunshine was a contrast to this morning’s grey and damp practice, but several drivers were still caught out by the technical nature of the Oschersleben track. Plamen Kralev had several excursions during the session, while Armaan Ebrahim twice went off at turn 12. Will Bratt and Ivan Samarin also had off track excursions on their way to 10th and 17th respectively. All drivers were able to continue.
With the top ten in each practice period separated by less than a second, qualifying is likely to be a close-run affair in which the championship contenders will be looking to move further up the order. Qualifying starts at 16.15CET, with live text commentary and live timing available from the Formula Two website.
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Afanasiev fires opening salvo at Oschersleben
3.9.2010 von Wolfgang.
Russian edges out Dean Stoneman to top first practice session
Following a four week summer break, the FIA Formula Two Championship returned to the tarmac today at Oschersleben, with Russia’s Sergey Afanasiev getting his weekend off to a perfect start by topping the timesheets in the first free practice session.
Afanasiev, who finished second at the track last year in International Formula Master, made the most of a progressively drying circuit to clinch the top spot in the final few minutes of the session - denying championship contender Dean Stoneman by little over two hundredths of a second.
Stoneman was forced to settle for second, although the Briton was once again highly impressive as he set about learning the technical Oschersleben circuit for the first time.
Behind the lead duo, Kelvin Snoeks finished third fastest after topping the timesheets at the halfway stage. Like Afanasiev, Snoeks has raced at the circuit before in International Formula Master, and the Dutchman made the most of his previous experience by finishing third quickest.
While Stoneman finished second, his title rival and current championship leader Jolyon Palmer also started the weekend strongly as he topped the timesheets on several occasions before eventually finishing fourth. Just four points separate the pair going into what could be a potentially decisive penultimate round here in Germany.
Behind Palmer, Kazim Vasiliauskas, Jack Clarke and Ricardo Teixeira finished within one tenth of a second of each other in fifth through to seventh. Vasiliauskas and Clarke both ran well at the circuit last year in Formula Two, and the pair looked in good touch again - Kazim in particular impressing by setting the fastest time of any driver in the first sector.
France’s Benjamin Lariche finished eighth fastest, just over three hundredths of a second ahead of Armaan Ebrahim - who arrived in Germany after spending two weeks in Brazil filming India’s ‘Fear Factor’.
Johannes Theobald, making his F2 debut on home soil this weekend, completed a highly impressive session by rounding out the top ten - fractions ahead of Brno race winner Nicola De Marco and older brother Julian, both of whom finished within nine tenths of Afanasiev’s benchmark time.
Early pace setters Philipp Eng and Benjamin Bailly faded a little toward the end, ending the session in 15th and 16th respectively.
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Palmer wins to recapture championship lead
1.8.2010 von Wolfgang.
Briton out-drags title rival Stoneman to take assured fifth victory
Jolyon Palmer reclaimed the overall lead in the 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship courtesy of an assured victory in today’s second race.
Starting on the front row alongside title rival Dean Stoneman - who wrested the overall lead from Palmer just 24 hours ago - Jolyon made a superb start to out-drag Stoneman on the run down to the first corner.
The pair were almost inseparable in the opening stages, exchanging fastest laps and establishing an early lead over the rest of the field. The gap peaked at just over one second on lap ten, and although Stoneman was able to close again on Palmer in the final stages he was never able to mount a full challenge for the lead.
Despite having Stoneman looming in his mirrors, Palmer looked assured and composed throughout, eventually claiming his fifth victory of the season and recapturing the championship lead in the process.
"That was all about the start - it was a perfect getaway," Palmer reflected. "I couldn’t pull away from Dean but we were both pulling away from third, so I just made sure not to make any mistakes and keep him behind.
"I was pretty relieved when the chequered flag came, but at the same time I was in control of my own race."
Behind the lead pair, Philipp Eng looked set to take third after winning an opening lap duel with Kazim Vasiliauskas for third - Eng losing out to the Lithuanian away from the line before a bold move on the outside of turn three saw him reclaim the position.
The Austrian suffered heartbreak however when his car retired on the final lap of the race, handing third to Vasiliauskas - his third podium of the year.
Sergey Afanasiev built upon a podium in yesterday’s race to lead home Benjamin Bailly in the battle for fourth, the Russian withstanding heavy early pressure to finish just over a second clear of Bailly.
Yesterday’s race winner Nicola De Marco also had to withstand heavy pressure from Benjamin Lariche for almost the entire duration of the race, but held on to complete the most successful weekend of his 2010 season. Unable to find a way past, Lariche nevertheless scored his best result of the year in seventh.
Kelvin Snoeks finished less than a second down the road in eighth, while Jack Clarke made superb early progress to clinch ninth, having started from 14th on the grid. Will Bratt rounded out the top ten, the Briton losing out at the start before working his way back up the order with eye-catching moves on Armaan Ebrahim and Mihai Marinescu.
Outside the top ten, Tom Gladdis enjoyed engrossing duels with Armaan Ebrahim and later Mihai Marinescu, while Ricardo Teixeira was the only race casualty other than Philipp Eng - the Angolan being tipped into a spin and out of the race by Plamen Kralev on the opening lap.
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Dean Stoneman secures pole for Brno race two
1.8.2010 von Wolfgang.
Championship leaders share the front row as Jolyon Palmer sets second fastest time
Championship leaders Dean Stoneman and Jolyon Palmer will share the front row for today’s second race at Brno, setting up what could be a pivotal moment in the fight for the 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship.
Stoneman, who wrested the championship lead from Palmer after yesterday’s opening race, took his second pole of the weekend with an imperious display in second qualifying - the Briton going out early on fresh rubber and setting a dominant 1m45.683s with ten minutes of the boost-enabled session still remaining.
Having used his boosts, Stoneman returned to the pits and the rest of the field took up the challenge of responding to his benchmark. Philipp Eng initially looked to have come closest, the Austrian moving to within half a second of Stoneman’s benchmark, before Jolyon Palmer pipped the Austrian with five minutes to go to take second.
Neither driver was able to really challenge Stoneman, however, leaving him to take his fifth pole position of the season. "I wasn’t going to do the strategy that I did," Stoneman said, "but I had nothing to lose and I just went out there and went for it early."
Palmer’s late effort demoted Eng to third, meaning the championship’s top three will start from first to third respectively - setting up a potentially thrilling run down to the first corner between the three main title protagonists.
Kazim Vasiliauskas showed hugely improved form in today’s qualifying session to take fourth, having set the fastest first sector time of anyone during the session.
Yesterday’s race winner Nicola De Marco will share the third row with Russia’s Sergey Afanasiev, after the pair both set their best times with four minutes of the session remaining. De Marco finished just shy of six tenths of a second off Stoneman, while Afanasiev - third in yesterday’s qualifying - was just over four tenths of a second further back, underlining just how impressive Stoneman’s benchmark was.
Benjamin Lariche had been running an impressive fourth with just five minutes to go, but the Frenchman was forced to settle for seventh at the chequered flag as several drivers improved late on.
Lariche will line up alongside Benjamin Bailly, who finished fourth in race one, while Will Bratt edged Mihai Marinescu by the closest margin of the session to clinch ninth, less than two hundredths of a second ahead of the Romanian.
With the track bathed in sunshine it proved to be a remarkably incident-free session, minor moments for Jack Clarke and Ricardo Teixeira the only incidents of note
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Nicola De Marco claims maiden win in Brno opener
31.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Italian takes assured first victory as Stoneman snatches championship lead
Nicola De Marco claimed his first F2 victory in today’s opening race at Brno, the Italian jumping polesitter Dean Stoneman at the start and looking assured throughout the 20 lap contest.
Once into the lead De Marco set about establishing an impressive early pace that Stoneman could not quite match, building up a gap of around two seconds by lap eight which he then gradually extended during the remainder of the race.
De Marco, who qualified on pole and then slipped up from the lead in last year’s two races here in Brno, was justifiably delighted: "This is a really important win for me - it’s my first in F2 but also because it’s here in Brno where last year I did a mistake when I was first."
Stoneman could not quite challenge De Marco for the lead, but nonetheless took an impressive second place in his first ever race on the Brno circuit - his haul of 18 points helping him wrest the overall championship lead from Jolyon Palmer, who finished the race in fifth.
Russia’s Sergey Afanasiev finished a relatively quiet third - his third podium this year following top three finishes at Silverstone and Monza - with Benjamin Bailly looking comfortable in fourth.
Bailly had lost out to the fast-starting Philipp Eng on the opening lap, but went round the outside of his Austrian rival at turn three as Jolyon Palmer also looked to challenge Eng on the inside. Palmer was unable to find a way past Eng, setting up an engaging duel for fifth which saw the pair often separated by just over half a second during the opening stages.
Palmer eventually found a way through on lap 13, completing a well-worked pass on the inside of Eng going into turn three. The Austrian tried to respond with a challenge just two corners later, but Palmer defended well and Eng was forced to back out of the move - eventually coming home in sixth, several seconds down the road from Palmer.
Behind that battle, Kelvin Snoeks - starting from seventh on his return to F2 - was working hard to keep Britain’s Will Bratt at bay. Bratt himself had Tom Gladdis less than one second behind for much of the race, and was ultimately unable to find a way past Snoeks, even when Gladdis fell back to 12th after spinning at turn seven. Snoeks finished seventh, his second best result of the year after a podium at Marrakech, with Bratt finishing less than six tenths of a second behind.
Ricardo Teixeira and Benjamin Lariche enjoyed a race-long battle for ninth, with the Angolan eventually claiming the position by just over six tenths of a second - Lariche settling for tenth to continue his remarkable record of scoring points in every event this year.
Outside the top ten, Mihai Marinescu had an eventful race after clattering cones on the final corner in the opening lap. One cone became wedged in front of Mihai’s left sidepod, and the resulting loss of aerodynamic performance caused him to drop back through the field until he eventually pitted to remove the item.
Jack Clarke and Armaan Ebrahim endured a disappointing opening race as the pair collided on the opening corner - Clarke seemingly spinning on the apex of the right-hander and collecting Ebrahim in the process.
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Stoneman clinches race one pole
31.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Briton edges De Marco by just 0.045s; Sergey Afanasiev takes third
Britain’s Dean Stoneman sealed his fourth pole position of the season today at Brno, edging out 2009 polesitter Nicola De Marco by just 0.045s.
Stoneman left it late in the session, eventually moving to the top of the timesheets in a frantic last five minutes that also saw Nicola De Marco, Jolyon Palmer and Sergey Afanasiev take spells at the top.
It was Afanasiev who made the best start to the session, topping the timesheets for nearly all of the opening ten minutes before the field pitted for fresh rubber. The Russian resumed his spell at the top with around ten minutes to go, only to be displaced by Jolyon Palmer as the times began to tumble.
Stoneman was next to hold provisional pole, only for Nicola De Marco to capture the position by dipping into the 1m45s bracket for the first time. The response was immediate, Stoneman shaving half a second off his previous best to sit fastest with a 1:45.597s. De Marco tried to respond, but fell agonisingly short - missing out by just over four hundredths of a second.
Stoneman, who has never raced at Brno before, enthused: "I went out there to get pole but I didn’t expect to get that lap out there on a difficult track. Overall I was just chipping away at the session trying to get a quick lap - it’s obviously another new track for me and I only did 19 laps yesterday so it’s been pretty good. I’m fairly confident, hopefully I’ve got the start sussed and the aim is to win - but also to finish in front of Jolyon and Philipp."
Behind the lead duo, Sergey Afanasiev improved late on to capture third, with Benjamin Bailly also rising up through the order in the final minutes to claim fourth, just over one tenth of a second behind the Russian.
That meant championship leader Jolyon Palmer had to settle for fifth, although a late yellow flag period - brought about as Natalia Kowalska spun into the gravel and out of the session at turn seven - prevented him from mustering a final challenge. He will share the third row with fellow title contender Philipp Eng, the Austrian finishing just seven hundredths of a second behind Palmer.
Kelvin Snoeks, making his return to F2 after missing the last round at Brands Hatch with a broken ankle, was an impressive seventh, edging out Tom Gladdis - a points finisher here last year - by less than 0.03s.
The closest margin in the field was reserved for the fifth row, however, with Ricardo Teixeira and Will Bratt separated by just one thousandth of a second - Angola’s Teixeira ultimately claiming ninth, with Bratt rounding out the top ten.
In another typically close F2 qualifying session, Romania’s Mihai Marinescu missed out on a top ten starting berth by less than two hundredths of a second, while the top 17 drivers were covered by less than 1.4s.
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Afanasiev edges Vasiliauskas in second free practice
30.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Russian pips Kazim by 0.014s on final tour, with Tom Gladdis third
Russia’s Sergey Afanasiev ended fastest in the second free practice session in Brno, edging out Kazim Vasiliauskas by just 14 thousandths of a second on his very last tour of the circuit.
The pair ended more than three tenths clear of Tom Gladdis in third, the Briton having held the top spot himself until the final minutes of the session when Vasiliauskas and then Afanasiev made their charge.
In what was an incredibly close session, fourth through to seventh were covered by less than one tenth of a second, while the top eight were separated by just over six tenths.
With the track now almost fully dry, lap times were almost 20 seconds faster than this morning’s wet opener. Dean Stoneman made the most of the early damp conditions to top the timesheets for the opening ten minutes before Philipp Eng responded, becoming the first driver to dip into the 1m47s bracket.
A mid-session break allowed the field to fine tune their set-ups and saw an instant drop in lap times as drivers returned to the track, with first Bailly and then Gladdis jumping Eng. Kazim looked to have sealed top spot after setting personal bests in all three sectors on his tenth lap of the circuit, only to be edged out by a superb last-gasp effort from Afanasiev.
Afanasiev, who took a podium here in Formula Master last year, said: “I think it was my best session of the year, an awesome session, and it’s the first time I’ve been fastest so I’m excited! Okay today is just a practice and qualifying is tomorrow, and I don’t want to predict anything but we will fight for pole – I want to go for it!”
Gladdis remained in third, but there was still time for Benjamin Bailly to jump Philipp Eng and clinch fourth by just two thousandths of a second. Nicola De Marco, a polesitter here in 2009, and Dean Stoneman both finished within four hundredths of a second of Eng’s time, claiming sixth and seventh respectively.
Ivan Samarin rounded out one of the closest top eights this season, the Russian finishing less than seven tenths off Afanasiev’s ultimate best after impressing particularly in the second sector.
Mihai Marinescu meanwhile pipped Natalia Kowalska by just over six hundredths of a second to clinch ninth, with the Polish racer rounding out the top ten.
Kelvin Snoeks was 11th, as the Dutchman makes his return to F2 having missed Brands Hatch with a broken ankle, while championship leader Jolyon Palmer - who was fastest in opening free practice - could only manage 12th.
Interestingly, the championship’s top three runners - Palmer, Stoneman and Eng - were the only drivers to spin in the early stages, until Plamen Kralev beached his car at the exit of turn five - the session being halted as a result two minutes before the end.
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Jolyon Palmer masters wet first session
30.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Briton pips De Marco and Bailly in Czech Republic opener
Jolyon Palmer provided a wet-weather masterclass in a treacherous opening practice session in Brno, the Briton setting a string of fastest laps to top the timesheets for almost the entire 30 minutes.
With the rain abating as the session began, the championship leader looked in good touch from the outset and was fastest after his first flying effort. As the track dried, Palmer was able to take advantage and he set about establishing a clear gap between himself and the rest of the field over the first half of the session.
"I was quick straightaway and it felt quite clam," Jolyon explained - "I just kept plugging away on the laps and I had no traffic really so it was the perfect session. Brands was my worst weekend of the year by a country mile but I’m not going to take any mad risks here - I like the track and it suits my style so hopefully it will be a good weekend."
As Palmer dominated with a string of purple sectors and fastest laps, Russia’s Sergey Afanasiev looked his main challenger but was often only able to close to within half a second of the Briton.
With just ten minutes to go, however, Italy’s Nicola De Marco - a polesitter at Brno last year - made the most of a significantly drying track to start his own charge, which eventually saw the Italian finish just two tenths shy of Palmer’s overall benchmark.
Benjamin Bailly and Will Bratt also set their fastest times as the session drew to a close, with the Belgian pipping Bratt by just five thousandths of a second to claim third. It was an impressive display by both men, both of whom finished within half a second of Palmer despite never having been to the circuit before.
Having missed out on a first win of 2010 in the last race at Brands Hatch, Kazim Vasiliauskas will be hoping to bounce back this weekend and the Lithuanian got off to a good start by finishing fifth fastest in first practice.
Kazim’s effort demoted the impressive Sergey Afanasiev into sixth, with the Russian the last driver to lap within one second of Jolyon Palmer’s best.
Both Philipp Eng and Dean Stoneman, Palmer’s two main championship rivals, could only manage seventh and eighth respectively, although Stoneman did have the difficult challenge of learning the Brno circuit for the first time in the wet.
Natalia Kowalska meanwhile was an impressive ninth, matching her best ever result in F2, while Ivan Samarin - who at one stage had matched exactly Jolyon Palmer’s best effort in sector two - rounded out the top ten. Kelvin Snoeks, returning to F2 after a broken ankle forced him to miss Brands Hatch, finished 12th fastest.
A late red flag period, brought about by a stalled engine on the test car of Steven Kane, led to the session ending five minutes early. Jack Clarke and Julian Theobald were the only spinners when the session was at its wettest, although both were able to rejoin without damage.
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Eng bounces back with Brands Hatch victory
19.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Austrian takes third win of season while Stoneman and Palmer collide
Philipp Eng claimed his third victory of the season at Brands Hatch in a race that will also be remembered for a clash between championship rivals Jolyon Palmer and Dean Stoneman.
Starting from second, Eng kept position away from the line as polesitter Kazim Vasiliauskas began to edge into the distance. Behind the lead duo Jolyon Palmer had come from fifth to third, with Dean Stoneman also moving up from seventh on the grid into fifth.
Gladdis and Stoneman traded places on two occasions during the opening lap, with Stoneman eventually getting into fourth around the outside at Surtees.
The key moment of the race happened on lap four when Stoneman tried to dive down the inside of Palmer at Paddock Hill Bend. As Stoneman drew alongside, the pair’s front wheels touched and Palmer was fired off into the gravel and out of the race.
Stoneman continued but the incident allowed Tom Gladdis to slip by and back into third, which became second at the halfway stage of the race as race leader Kazim Vasiliauskas retired with gearbox issues.
The front trio remained separated by less than 1.5s for the remainder of the race, with Gladdis coming under the most pressure as Stoneman attempted a late pass. The young Briton had kept six of his eight boosts in reserve however, allowing him to hang on to take second - his best ever result in Formula Two.
Eng ultimately profited from the squabble behind, eventually finishing half a second clear - which was as comfortable a margin as the Austrian had enjoyed throughout the 24 lap contest.
Behind Gladdis and Stoneman, Will Bratt put the seal on another solid weekend with a relatively quiet drive to fourth. Nicola De Marco headed a gaggle of cars in the fight for fifth as the Italian confirmed his return to form by completing his second double-points scoring weekend in a row.
Despite briefly moving into third off the line, Sergey Afanasiev ran wide at Hawthorn on the opening lap during a battle with Palmer and the Russian was quickly shuffled down the order. The Lukoil-backed racer recovered, but could only manage sixth at the finish.
Mihai Marinescu held a one second advantage over Armaan Ebrahim to claim seventh while Briton Jack Clarke improved five positions during the race to finish ninth.
Ivan Samarin scored the final championship point in tenth, completing his best ever weekend in Formula Two after scoring his maiden podium yesterday.
The stewards are investigating the Stoneman/Palmer incident but, as it stands, Stoneman has moved into a ten point championship lead while Eng’s win means he jumps Will Bratt and moves back into third overall.
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Palmer leaves it late to head a British 1-2-3
14.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Championship leader produces last gasp lap to top Brands Hatch test
Jolyon Palmer left it until the final few minutes to set the fastest lap of the entire day during the official F2 test at Brands Hatch.
The championship leader produced the kind of lap in keeping with his magnificent performances so far this season, with his lap time of 1:16.111s enough to edge out compatriot Will Bratt, who had led the running for much of the day.
It seems there is every chance that British fans could witness a home win in Formula Two this weekend as Dean Stoneman rounded out an all British 1-2-3, having topped the order briefly in the final 15 minutes.
Sergey Afanasiev ended up fourth and the Russian racer is clearly enjoying taking on the legendary Grand Prix circuit in an F2 car. The Lukoil-backed driver scored two podium finishes here in International Formula Master in 2009 and he ended each and every session during today’s test inside the top four.
Tom Gladdis impressively made it four Britons in the top five after the 19-year-old made a staggering return to Formula Two. Gladdis remains the youngest driver in the F2 field and it is easy to forget that he has driven just one full season in international motorsport. Today marked his first time in the car since the opening round at Silverstone when issues with a previous sponsor curtailed his campaign. It was clear today however, that Tom has lost none of his talent and his lap time of 1:16.532s was good enough for fifth.
Championship contender Philipp Eng has fond memories of Brands Hatch having taken his maiden victory in the series here last season. After running in the lower order of the top ten earlier in the afternoon, Eng continued to make steady progress to take sixth ahead of Ivan Samarin at the finish.
Ramon Pineiro produced an eye catching performance to end the day eighth overall. The Spaniard was a solid top ten runner throughout, showing good speed in both the wet and dry conditions. The Formula Palmer Audi-racer completed today’s test as he is likely to contest the final round of the 2010 F2 season in Valencia, prior to making a full assault on the series in 2011.
Jack Clarke claimed ninth with his last lap, jumping Angolan driver Ricardo Teixeira in the process. Plamen Kralev failed to make it out for the final session following an accident at Clearways earlier in the afternoon, whilst Kazim Vasiliauskas’ car was repaired in time after his sizeable shunt at Stirling’s corner. The Lithuanian could only manage 15th on the timesheets however, and he joined Benjamin Bailly as the notable drivers to finish outside of the top ten - the Belgian racer was 11th overall.
Julian and Johannes Theobald enjoyed a solid debut as they continued to acclimatise themselves to the Williams JPH1B F2 car. Julian ended the afternoon session 17th overall ahead of his maiden F2 event at Brands Hatch this coming weekend.
The F2 drivers will be back on track for the opening free practice session on Friday morning as part of another double-header race weekend - the official Formula Two website will keep you posted on the build up throughout the week and provide immediate reports and results during the weekend itself.
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Relentless Stoneman claims victory in race two
5.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Briton takes third win of the season ahead of Palmer and De Marco
Dean Stoneman took a commanding victory in the second race in Portugal, the Briton jumping Jolyon Palmer from the start and setting a relentless pace to eventually clinch his third win of the year by just over four seconds.
Palmer limited the damage done to his championship lead by finishing second, although the Briton came under intense pressure from Nicola De Marco and Benjamin Bailly as the race drew to a close.
De Marco crossed the finish line less than half a second behind Palmer, clinging on to third after running wide at turn 13 on the final lap to give Benjamin Bailly a sniff of his third podium in a row. Bailly had trailed De Marco by less than one second for almost the entire race, but wasn’t quite close enough and had to settle for fourth.
Such was the competition between Palmer, De Marco and Bailly that the trio were covered by less than one second, although it emerged after the race that Palmer has been running with a loose wheel nut on his front left tyre.
Romanian Mihai Marinescu drove to a lonely fifth place, after improving from ninth on the grid. Much of his progress was made during a first lap melee, which sent Kazim Vasiliauskas and Armaan Ebrahim out of the race and Benjamin Lariche to the back of the field.
The drama on lap one continued when Jack Clarke tipped Kelvin Snoeks into the gravel and both cars retired on the spot, leaving a disjointed feel to the lower end of the top ten. The contest began to calm down on lap two and it was Britain’s Will Bratt who emerged in sixth place, although with visible damage to his front wing.
Clearly struggling for downforce, Bratt set about defending for the entire race as a gaggle of cars bunched up behind him. Philipp Eng attacked time after time in the early stages, before Bratt began to find his pace and hold position. A surging Sergey Afanasiev had made his way up to eighth from 14th on the grid, but the Russian had Ricardo Teixeira in his mirrors throughout as the pair closed in on Bratt and Eng ahead.
The fight ended for Afanasiev and Teixeira on lap 17 however, when both cars spun into the gravel at the final corner - narrowly avoiding the stricken machine of Plamen Kralev who had crashed out a few laps earlier.
Bratt and Eng went on to claim sixth and seventh, ahead of another great tussle for eighth. Despite spinning at the turn five hairpin at the midway distance, Ivan Samarin recovered to claim eighth after passing the impressive Natalia Kowalska late on. The Polish female racer went on to score her second points paying position of the weekend however, capping a memorable event for the 20-year-old.
Lariche was able to score a solitary point after coming back from his opening lap disappointment, but the Frenchman still has a credible record of scoring points in seven of the ten races so far this season.
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Perfect Palmer doubles up in Portimão
5.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Briton takes fifth pole of the year ahead of Eng and Stoneman
Championship leader Jolyon Palmer secured his fifth pole of the 2010 campaign with a commanding performance in the second qualifying session in the Algarve.
Dean Stoneman had held top spot after going out early on fresh rubber, but his provisional pole time always looked slightly fragile and so it proved as Palmer hooked up a fantastic lap to finish more than two tenths clear of his fellow Briton.
"It’s great - I’m really enjoying the track," said Palmer. "I was very confident coming in to today, I had good pace in the race yesterday and obviously pole as well, I knew I could do a good job so I just put my head down and concentrated on making the best of the boost lap and it worked!"
A resurgent Philipp Eng looked to be the only driver capable of toppling Palmer, but he eventually had to settle for second. Unfortunately for the Austrian, second will become 12th for this afternoon’s race after he was handed a ten-place grid penalty by the stewards for an incident with Stoneman in Saturday’s contest.
Eng and Stoneman were both happy with their performance however, after qualifying only sixth and ninth in the opening qualifying session. Both drivers admitted to making positive changes to their respective cars ahead of qualifying, and Stoneman in particular is confident of challenging for the top step of the rostrum this afternoon.
"We changed the car last night," said Stoneman. "We sat down with the engineer - it wasn’t anything major, just a slight little tweak and obviously that made all the difference this morning.
"I’m good at keeping the car consistent, but we knew the car wasn’t 100% - hopefully now we’ve solved the problem. It will be the same tactic as always, going all out for victory."
Eng’s penalty promotes Nicola De Marco and the impressive Benjamin Lariche to the second row, which is the Frenchman’s best ever qualifying position, having recorded a previous best of tenth at Silverstone.
Belgian Benjamin Bailly fell short of Lariche by just 0.010s, and Dutchman Kelvin Snoeks will line-up alongside the Zolder race winner on row three. British duo Jack Clarke and Will Bratt will be slightly disappointed to have qualified in eighth and ninth having shown front-running pace yesterday, whilst Mihai Marinescu rounded out the top ten - although he will start from ninth alongside Russia’s Ivan Samarin.
The final F2 race of the Portimão weekend takes place at 1:05pm. The official Formula Two website will provide live video streaming, text commentary, results and reports.
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Palmer triumphs in Algarve opener
4.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Briton takes fourth victory of season, as Bailly and Clarke complete the podium trio
Jolyon Palmer took his fourth victory of the season with an assured performance in the opening race in the Algarve, the Briton leading from the start and negotiating a safety car period to eventually clinch victory by just over 2.5 seconds.
Second place went to Zolder race-winner Benjamin Bailly who, like Palmer, maintained his grid position throughout the race.
Behind Bailly, Britain’s Jack Clarke secured his maiden F2 podium in third position, although the 22-year-old was made to work hard for the place after coming under pressure from Kazim Vasiliauskas at the restart of the race.
While the race wasn’t dominated by overtaking, it was notable for a controversial incident between Philipp Eng and Dean Stoneman which saw the pair collide at the turn five hairpin, Stoneman dropping from sixth to 12th as a result.
The championship contenders were both passed by Nicola De Marco on the run to the turn, as Eng and Stoneman fought for position on the outside. Eng made contact with Stoneman as they both turned in and seemed to push his British rival around the hairpin. Eng was able to continue in sixth while Stoneman struggled down the order for the remainder of the race.
The race behind the lead trio was eventually won by Vasiliauskas after the Lithuanian got the jump on De Marco on the opening lap. Despite being heavily pressured by the Italian, Vasiliauskas nearly made a move into third on lap 12. The Safety Car had been deployed for a single lap following a lurid spin by Plamen Kralev, giving Vasiliauskas the chance to attack Clarke ahead.
Vasiliauskas used one of his overboost options and got a great run on Clarke across the start/finish line, but the Briton defended admirably and was able to hold off Vasiliauskas on the run down to turn one. After his failed attempt, Vasiliauskas settled for fourth ahead of the recovering De Marco - the Italian having dropped to seventh in the early stages.
Eng took a lonely sixth at the finish but the drama wasn’t over for the Austrian, as Dean Stoneman reportedly made contact with him again during the slow down lap. The duo already have an incident prone history following contact at Monza in May, and it seems their rivalry may have boiled over again here in Portugal.
Ricardo Teixeira held off a charging Armaan Ebrahim to secure seventh, although the Indian racer can be proud of his performance having started 16th on the grid. Benjamin Lariche claimed a lonely ninth, ahead of a relatively quiet Sergey Afanasiev.
Natalia Kowalska narrowly missed out on securing her first points in Formula Two after an eye catching performance from the female racer. She dropped to the rear of the field in the early stages after apparent contact with Mihai Marinescu, but the CYFRA+ backed driver responded brilliantly, passing Plamen Kralev, Parthiva Sureshwaren, Ivan Samarin, Mihai Marinescu and Dean Stoneman following the restart.
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Benjamin Bailly doubles up
3.7.2010 von Wolfgang.
Belgian tops both free practice sessions in Portimão
Zolder race winner Benjamin Bailly continued his run of excellent form by topping both free practice sessions on the opening day of Formula Two’s fifth event of the season at Portimão.
The Belgian dominated the first session to finish more than eight tenths clear of the field, and continued his good run to top session two in the early stages before improving his time even further in the latter stages.
A flurry of late flying laps in the second session saw Jack Clarke come closest to matching Bailly. Like Bailly, Clarke has also been in good form after equalling his best ever result with fourth place in Belgium last time out. The 22-year-old put in a number of consistent laps during the second session - eventually finishing just 0.034s short of Bailly’s benchmark.
Behind them Kazim Vasiliauskas and Jolyon Palmer claimed third and fourth, ahead of Briton Will Bratt. Such was the closeness of the session that the top five drivers were separated by less than two tenths of a second.
Ricardo Teixeira enjoyed another eye catching run as the Angolan driver completed the top six, while Italy’s Nicola De Marco was less than three hundredths of a second behind in seventh.
Ivan Samarin was more than half a second off the ultimate pace, but his performance remained good enough for eighth place, ahead of two-time race winner Dean Stoneman - who also went off track late on.
Kelvin Snoeks rounded out the top ten and the Dutchman had further cause to celebrate after finding out that his fellow countrymen had beaten Brazil in the FIFA World Cup!
Sergey Afanasiev has endured a challenging day and the Russian racer had to recover from going off at turn four in the early stages to eventually finish in 11th. Plamen Kralev was another driver to make a mistake on the technical Portimão circuit - the Bulgarian spinning at the tight turn five hairpin.
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Bailly triumphs in home race thriller
20.6.2010 von Wolfgang.
Belgian takes maiden win ahead of Palmer and Stoneman
Benjamin Bailly scored a triumphant victory on home soil in the second race at Zolder, the Belgian leading from the start to eventually take the chequered flag by just over three seconds from Jolyon Palmer.
While Bailly’s victory gave the home fans plenty to cheer, the action behind him proved equally consuming as Jolyon Palmer, Jack Clarke, Dean Stoneman and Will Bratt enjoyed a four-way tussle for second place for almost the entire duration of the race.
Palmer had taken second spot from Clarke away from the start, only for Clarke to reign him in as the race progressed. Stoneman meanwhile had worked his way up from seventh and after passing Bratt he exerted extreme pressure on Clarke ahead. The latter defended brilliantly until Stoneman worked an opportunity on lap 20, eventually passing his rival several corners after his first attempt as Clarke again defended stoically.
With only two laps to go, Stoneman didn’t have enough time to attack Palmer ahead, while Bailly was calmly marching on to his first victory in international motorsport. The action up front left Clarke with fourth, although again he had to defend - this time from Will Bratt, who was unable to find a way through and had to settle for fifth.
Romanian racer Mihai Marinescu eventually got the better of Kazim Vasiliauskas and Nicola De Marco in the fight for sixth. Vasiliauskas bounced across the kerbs in the early stages while trying to pass Marinescu, which seemingly gave De Marco the advantage. Vasiliauskas dropped further back and was left to tussle with Ivan Samarin while De Marco retired with a mechanical problem, leaving Marinescu to claim his second top six finish of the season.
Behind Vasiliauskas, Russian racer Samarin eventually claimed a lonely eighth ahead of the consistent Benjamin Lariche and Kelvin Snoeks.
Silverstone and Marrakech race winner Philipp Eng endured a torrid weekend for the second event in a row. Starting from eighth, the Austrian tried to go side-by-side with Dean Stoneman through turn one. The Briton took the inside line and slightly squeezed Eng out, the Austrian running through the gravel and down the order as a consequence. He was able to continue but never looked likely to challenge for the points paying positions.
Sergey Afanasiev was another front-runner to experience a challenging race. After a storming drive to fourth from the back of the grid in the opening race of the weekend, the Lukoil-backed driver suffered a change of fortune in today’s contest. Starting in fifth, he bogged down off the line and immediately dropped to the back of the pack.
The Russian began to make the same sort of spirited fight back that served him so well yesterday, including one particularly impressive pass on Benjamin Lariche. His charge ended on the final lap however, as he made a last ditch attempt to pass fellow countryman Ivan Samarin at the final chicane. The move was never really on however, and Afanasiev outbraked himself, spinning into the gravel trap and out of the race.
The result at the head of the field means Palmer extends his lead over Stoneman to eight points in the overall championship standings, but there was no denying who the hero of the day was. Bailly brought his car to a halt in parc ferme in front of a very vocal home crowd, before sparking wild celebration scenes on the podium.
"This is a really good feeling, fantastic in front of all my family and everybody who did a really good job," said a delighted Benjamin. "I just tried to keep the gap and finish first - that’s what I did. I pushed as hard as I could in the first laps and kept my boosts until the end of the race in case there was a safety car.
"This makes me really happy and gives me more confidence for the rest of the season. I hope it’s not the last one - I will do everything I can to remain at the front and why not more victories."
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