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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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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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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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 17^th 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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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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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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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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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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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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Clarke and Palmer complete top three in tightest session of season

Benjamin Bailly captured his maiden Formula Two pole position in Zolder, Belgium, in what was the closest qualifying session of the season so far – the top six drivers being separated by just over two tenths of a second.

Times dropped as the session approached its climax and there were five changes at the top in a frantic sixty second period, with Bailly eventually emerging on pole – just 0.041s ahead of Jack Clarke in second.

Bailly joins Jolyon Palmer as one of only two drivers to score a pole position on home soil this season, and the young Belgian was clearly delighted: "I feel really, really great," he enthused. "Yesterday I was fast and I wished I could have got the pole position then! I worked a lot with my engineer however, and also the guy from the RACB who was with me for the set-up of the car, and we found something. Now I have a really great feeling at home, thanks to everybody and I’m very happy!"

Jack Clarke held top spot for much of the session, but the Briton was required to make a final flying lap attempt after dropping down the order in the last five minutes. He responded in magnificent style, recording his best performance of the season to clinch second.

Championship leader Jolyon Palmer completed the top three after what he simply called a ‚clean lap‘ towards the end of the running. The 19-year-old admitted that he was slightly disappointed not to be on the front row, but was equally pleased to see his main championship rivals behind him.

Will Bratt made it an all-British second row as the 22-year-old bounced back well after a challenging day yesterday. Bratt has been a consistent front-runner throughout the 2010 season so far, but his opening race at Zolder was ruined when he was cruelly taken out by both Philipp Eng and Mihai Marinescu in two separate incidents.

Sergey Afanasiev continues to show good speed at the Belgian venue, and the Russian briefly held the top spot before the late flurry of laps demoted him to fifth overall, fractions ahead of Nicola De Marco in sixth.

Championship challengers Dean Stoneman and Philipp Eng both endured challenging sessions and will line-up together on row four for this afternoon’s race. Eng briefly held pole position before firing his car off into the gravel at the tricky turn two and three complex with just four minutes of the session remaining. In a twist of irony, Eng’s incident had a major effect on his rival Stoneman’s session. The Briton had just set his fastest lap of the session, but Eng’s off immediately put paid to his push for pole as yellow flags prevented him from setting a quicker time on his next tour of the 2.4 mile circuit.

A number of drivers had in fact saved their three shots of overboost for a last minute dash, but were also unable to make use of them due to the yellow flag conditions in the final minutes. Mihai Marinescu and Kazim Vasiliauskas were among those left disappointed, as the duo could only manage ninth and tenth respectively at the finish.

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Briton closes in on championship lead after second win of season

Dean Stoneman took a polished victory in the opening race at Zolder, converting his second pole position of the year into his second win – closing the gap to championship leader Jolyon Palmer in the process.

The Briton looked assured throughout, leading from the start and negotiating a safety car period in the middle of the race to eventually win by more than seven seconds – even setting the fastest lap of the race on his final tour to underline his dominance.

"The car felt really good," Stoneman said. "I knew I was consistent in the race and I was able to keep my last six boosts for the final two laps, and I was able to set my fastest time on the very last lap. Hopefully I can carry on getting to the top of the podium but you never know what will happen in the next race."

Jolyon Palmer ensured he maintained the championship lead courtesy of a strong drive to second, having started the race from fifth. The 19-year-old made a stellar start, grabbing fourth off the line from Armaan Ebrahim before taking a further two positions in quick succession on the opening lap – claiming third from Kazim Vasiliauskas on the exit of the Kleine Chicane and then second with a pass on Benjamin Bailly on the run down to Butte.

"I got Armaan away from the start," Jolyon revealed. "Then I got a good exit from the first chicane, hit the boost straight away and got round the outside of Kazim and then managed to dive down the inside of Bailly. Dean pulled quite a big gap and it was pretty hard to make it up – the safety car gave me a chance, but Dean was a bit too quick in this one."

Vasiliauskas repassed Bailly on the opening lap before setting about closing down Palmer for second. He reeled in his rival in the early stages of the race until a safety car period scuppered his attack. He clattered the kerbs shortly after the restart and eventually settled for third, the Lithuanian taking his second podium in as many races.

The safety car period was caused by one of several incidents during the race. Natalia Kowalska’s spin into the barrier at turn three was the ultimate cause as her car lay stranded on the circuit, but she wasn’t the only racer in the wars. Championship contenders Philipp Eng and Will Bratt were both eliminated from the fight for points, when Eng made a desperate late lunge at turn eight. The Austrian carried too much speed into the corner before outbraking himself and running into Bratt. Jack Clarke was an innocent bystander, but he was left with nowhere to go and he too made contact with Eng. All three drivers were able to continue but were left way down the order.

The fight for fourth was an exciting contest, with Bailly holding the position in the early stages before fading with a damaged bargeboard – potentially losing up to half a second a lap. The position eventually went to a charging Sergey Afanasiev, whose drive through the field from 11th on the grid included an impressive pass on Armaan Ebrahim on the run to Kleine. Ebrahim had also got by Bailly and equalled his best ever position with fifth, while Bailly rounded out the top six at his home circuit – the same position that the RACB-backed driver has finished in the last three races.

Ivan Samarin drove to a spirited seventh, whilst Mihai Marinescu finished in an impressive eighth after starting in the pitlane. The Romanian’s charge was slightly tarnished by a clash with Will Bratt on the final lap, which sent the Briton spinning out of the race. Ricardo Teixeira and Nicola De Marco rounded out the top ten in what was a fascinating fight for the lower points-paying positions. De Marco himself had to recover from an off-road trip late on, whilst Benjamin Lariche and Kelvin Snoeks also fired themselves into the gravel when four cars tried to make it through turn one side-by-side.

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Briton takes second pole of season ahead of Vasiliauskas and Bailly

Dean Stoneman stormed to his second pole of the season in the first qualifying session at Zolder, the Briton topping the timesheets for almost the entire session as he forced home his dominance on the rest of the field.

Several drivers came close to Stoneman’s benchmark in the final minutes of a frantic first session, with Kazim Vasiliauskas eventually finishing second fastest, little over two tenths behind. Benjamin Bailly will start third on the grid for tomorrow’s opening race, as the Belgian driver continues to impress at his home circuit.

Stoneman dominated throughout the 30 minutes of running and held an advantage of more than seven tenths in the early stages. Bailly bridged the gap in the final ten minutes, jumping ahead of Vasiliauskas by just 0.001s. The Lithuanian responded on his last lap to retake second position, although he fell short of Stoneman’s benchmark by nearly quarter of a second.

Armaan Ebrahim took an impressive fourth – his best qualifying position in his Formula Two career so far. Championship leader Jolyon Palmer claimed fifth ahead of a charging Nicola De Marco, who set his fastest lap time as the chequered flag waved.

Ivan Samarin was another driver who enjoyed his best session of the season – the Russian will line up seventh ahead of championship challenger Philipp Eng. The Austrian driver eventually gave up on trying to improve as he pitted with around five minutes of the session remaining.

British duo Will Bratt and Jack Clarke rounded out the top ten, whilst there was drama for a number of racers further down the order. Sergey Afanasiev could only manage 11th after a huge spin at the exit of turn eight. Mihai Marinescu, Natalia Kowalska and Parthiva Sureshwaren were amongst those who also endured spins.

Dean Stoneman said: "I am really pleased with that. I was pushing really hard in the early part of the session, but the track just seemed to keep improving. The grip just got better and better and I was able to go even faster later on – it is good news for the championship."

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Belgian racer goes quickest in final practice at Zolder

20-year-old Benjamin Bailly has set the pace in a Formula Two session for the first time in his career after the Belgian driver went quickest in final practice at Zolder.

Racing on home soil, Bailly was a consistent top ten runner during Tuesday’s test and this morning’s opening practice session, but it was his late lap in free practice two that pushed him to the summit of the timesheets.

Armaan Ebrahim completed a rather unexpected look to the top two positions after the Indian racer set a hot lap in the closing seconds. Ebrahim has improved during practice and qualifying conditions throughout the 2010 campaign, and with his race pace never in doubt he could be one to watch as the weekend progresses.

The session was slower overall than the early morning running but championship leader Jolyon Palmer still found enough grip in his worn rubber to claim third. Russian racer Ivan Samarin enjoyed one of his best runs of the season so far, after the Luding-backed driver jumped into fourth ahead of Will Bratt.

Philipp Eng improved during the session and made his first visit to the top six in the final stages. The Austrian’s lap demoted Dean Stoneman to seventh, with the Englishman clearly taking the most aggressive line across the kerbs through turn one.

Kelvin Snoeks, Kazim Vasiliauskas and Jack Clarke rounded out the top ten, although Clarke had a torrid time at turn two. He had already returned to the circuit after running wide at turn one in the early stages, before he fired his car into the gravel at turn two late on and was unable to continue.

Ricardo Teixeira, Ivan Samarin and pace-setter Bailly were also caught out by the tricky turn two and three complex – all three returned to the tarmac after separate trips through the gravel.

The opening qualifying session of the weekend will take place at 4:45pm today and the official Formula Two website will provide live text commentary, results and reports following the conclusion of the session.

FIA Formula Two Championship – Zolder, Belgium – Free Practice Two Classification:

1. Benjamin Bailly, 1:24.390s
2. Armaan Ebrahim, +0.311s
3. Jolyon Palmer, +0.521s
4. Ivan Samarin, +0.638s
5. Will Bratt, +0.651s
6. Philipp Eng, 0.833s
7. Dean Stoneman, +0.956s
8. Kelvin Snoeks, +0.993s
9. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +1.184s
10. Jack Clarke, +1.200s

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Austrian heads Kazim Vasiliauskas in Belgium

Philipp Eng topped the timesheets in an encouraging pre-event test at Zolder, as the Austrian bids to get his F2 championship challenge back on track at the Belgian venue this weekend (18-20 June).

The Silverstone and Marrakech race winner suffered a disappointing round at Monza in May but he wiped the slate clean today by setting the overall pace in the last ten minutes of running. After a relatively low key start to proceedings, Eng gradually improved his pace throughout the afternoon before securing the benchmark time late on.

Only Kazim Vasiliauskas could get near Eng during the final overboost-enabled session as the Lithuanian’s 1:23.845s lap time was just over a tenth of a second off the ultimate pace.

Belgium’s Benjamin Bailly was third in the final session but his time was unable to match that of Nicola De Marco and Ricardo Teixeira from earlier in the day. Even Bailly himself went quicker during the morning running as the final half hour was interrupted by a number of red flag periods, and he ended the day fifth fastest overall.

Russian racer Sergey Afanasiev completed the top six ahead of the impressive Benjamin Lariche. The Frenchman was quick but also endured a number of moments during the day, including a spin that triggered one of the stoppages in the final session.

Dean Stoneman, Will Bratt and Armaan Ebrahim rounded out the top ten, ahead of Mihai Marinescu and championship leader Jolyon Palmer. The final session ended a few minutes prematurely when Parthiva Sureshwaren and Paul Rees suffered separate spins at the final turn and both cars were left stranded in dangerous positions.

Philipp Eng said: "I felt very comfortable straight away and it ended up being quite an easy day! I think we were a little bit lucky to be so far ahead of the others because of the red flags but I am feeling good – I like the circuit and I am really looking forward to the weekend."

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Second win of weekend hands Briton championship lead as Afanasiev and Bratt complete the podium

Jolyon Palmer put the gloss on an already superb weekend by claiming his second victory – a clean sweep that also gives him the overall championship lead – here in Monza.

Palmer has been the man to beat for almost the entire weekend, having claimed pole position and then victory in the first race before taking another pole for race two. A good start helped him to maintain position and from there he never looked back, taking victory just under four seconds clear of Sergey Afanasiev in second.

Second position had looked to be Will Bratt’s in the closing stages of the race, but with one lap to go Afanasiev pulled off a superb move at Curva Grande to steal the position. Bratt was forced to settle for third, his second podium of the year.

Bratt initially got by Afanasiev off the line to grab second going into turn one for the first time. There was carnage behind as Mihai Marinescu stalled on the line and Nicola de Marco then spun in avoidance of the Romanian’s stricken car. The incident ended a tough weekend for the Italian at his home event as he failed to complete a single racing lap in either race.

The chaos continued on lap two when the fight for fourth place raged on at the turn one chicane. Dean Stoneman attacked Philipp Eng and seemingly outbraked himself into the turn – the result was a punt in the rear for Eng, who was then also collected by the unfortunate Johan Jokinen. The Dane was out on the spot while Eng limped back to the pit lane and ultimately into retirement.

Kazim Vasiliauskas saw an opportunity to attack Stoneman after the melee but the Lithuanian made his own mistake – spinning out of the race on the approach to the second Lesmo. Stoneman eventually settled into a comfortable fourth although he remains under investigation by the stewards for his part in the Eng accident.

Fifth place became the new scene of excitement as five or six cars battled intensely for position. Kelvin Snoeks had briefly held fourth before Stoneman nipped by, but the Dutchman soon dropped to fifth and he had Jack Clarke all over him. The pair swopped positions twice at Parabolica and then at turn one, but Snoeks hung on. Clarke made another failed attempt to get by, which left him open to attack from Armaan Ebrahim, Benjamin Bailly and Paul Rees. With such a fantastic a tow at the legendary Italian venue, the trio all got by Clarke in less than a lap! The Briton had gone from fighting for fifth to ninth position in a blink of an eye, and he would later drop out of the points altogether after seemingly being down on power late on.

Snoeks maintained fifth on the circuit, but he was given a drive through penalty for not respecting the track limits shortly after. It was all academic however, as the Dutchman retired after contact with Ebrahim prior to taking his penalty. The Indian continued to claim his best ever result with fifth, whilst Bailly and Rees followed closely behind. Ivan Samarin, Ricardo Teixeira and Benjamin Lariche also enjoyed a great battle as the trio rounded out the top ten – covered by less than 1.5 seconds.

Back at the front, Palmer remained consistent throughout the race but there was to be late drama in the race for second place. Will Bratt had suffered from clutch problems as early as lap three and although the Briton did well to stay in touch, he eventually lost out to the charging Afanasiev.

Palmer’s third win of the season now gives him a 12 point advantage in the overall standings, although the Briton is not getting carried away at such an early stage. "It was a perfect weekend," Palmer said. "This win was more straightforward than yesterday’s: there was no safety car, and I just managed to find another gear to drive to the chequered flag. At Marrakech I think Philipp and Dean both thought it was a two horse race the championship – it’s obviously not, I’ve had a great weekend and it proves the championship is very open. It’s great to be leading at this stage but there’s a long way to go."

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