Eisspeedway

2009 FIA Formula Two Championship

The 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season was the first year of the relaunched FIA Formula Two Championship. The championship began on 30 May at the Circuit de Valencia and finished on 1 November at the Circuit de Catalunya, after eight double-header rounds. Andy Soucek was a dominant champion, finishing over 50 points clear of runner-up Robert Wickens.

The season was overshadowed by the death of Henry Surtees during the second race at Brands Hatch.

Background & championship format

The series saw the drivers using a chassis that was built at the WilliamsF1 team's headquarters at Grove in Oxfordshire. It was named as the JPH1, incorporating the initials of series boss Jonathan Palmer and Patrick Head, engineering director for Williams.[1] The car was given two shakedown tests at Palmer's Bedford Autodrome by Steven Kane,[2] before the car was officially launched on 2 March at Brands Hatch – the headquarters of MotorSport Vision, who run all the cars in the series.[3]

At each event there were two 30-minute practice sessions, two 30-minute qualifying sessions and two races of varying length; the distances for each announced prior to each race weekend. Points were awarded to the top eight drivers in the race, and were awarded in the same system as Formula One: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1, and only a driver's best fourteen scores counted towards the championship.[4] That said, no driver had to drop scores in the championship due to all of them having two or more non-points-scoring races.

The winner of the FIA Formula Two Championship received a full test with the AT&T Williams F1 team, which was run in such a way as to seriously evaluate the driver with regard to their potential as a Formula One driver. Drivers finishing in the first three places in the final classification of the Formula Two Championship qualified for an FIA Super Licence.

Drivers

The season was overshadowed by the fatal accident suffered by Henry Surtees at Brands Hatch. All the cars carried a tribute to Surtees for the rest of the season.
No. Driver[8] Rounds
2 Sweden Sebastian Hohenthal[9] All
3 United Kingdom Jolyon Palmer[10] All
4 France Julien Jousse[11] All
5 United Kingdom Alex Brundle[12] All
6 India Armaan Ebrahim[13] All
7 United Kingdom Henry Surtees[14] 1–4
8 Germany Tobias Hegewald[15] All
9 Italy Pietro Gandolfi[16] All
10 Italy Nicola de Marco[17] All
11 United Kingdom Jack Clarke[18] All
12 Canada Robert Wickens[11] All
14 Italy Mirko Bortolotti[19] All
15 Russia Mikhail Aleshin[20] All
16 Italy Edoardo Piscopo[21] 1–7
17 Brazil Carlos Iaconelli[22] 1–7
18 Switzerland Natacha Gachnang[23] All
20 Germany Jens Höing[24] All
21 Lithuania Kazim Vasiliauskas[25] All
22 Spain Andy Soucek[26] All
23 Finland Henri Karjalainen[27] All
24 United Kingdom Tom Gladdis[28] All
25 Serbia Miloš Pavlović[29] All
27 Spain Germán Sánchez[30] All
31 United Kingdom Jason Moore[31] All
33 Austria Philipp Eng[32] All
38 France Tristan Vautier[33] 8
44 United Kingdom Ollie Hancock[34] 5–8

Driver changes

Entering FIA Formula Two Championship
Midseason changes

† – Surtees was fatally injured after an accident, during the second race at the fourth round at Brands Hatch.[35][36] Surtees' slot was filled by Ollie Hancock after round five.[34]

Testing Results

The first group test was held on 6 May, at Snetterton in Norfolk. In the morning, 21 of the series' 24 drivers were within a second of each other. Two sessions were held, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. There was another group test at Silverstone on 18 May, with two dry sessions and one wet session. Two other test days were held during the session, one at Donington Park, and one at Circuit de Catalunya.

Calendar

The Formula Two calendar consists of eight rounds with two races at each event.[38]

Round Circuit/Location Country Date Supporting
1 R1 Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia  Spain 30 May WTCC Race of Spain
R2 31 May
2 R1 Masaryk Circuit, Brno  Czech Republic 20 June WTCC Race of the Czech Republic
R2 21 June
3 R1 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps  Belgium 27 June International GT Open
R2 28 June
4 R1 Brands Hatch, Kent  United Kingdom 18 July WTCC Race of UK
R2 19 July
5 R1 Donington Park  United Kingdom 16 August Stand-alone event
R2
6 R1 Motorsport Arena Oschersleben  Germany 5 September WTCC Race of Germany
R2 6 September
7 R1 Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola  Italy 19 September WTCC Race of Italy
R2 20 September
8 R1 Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona  Spain 31 October International GT Open
R2 1 November

Results

Round Circuit Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Report
1 R1 Spain Valencia Canada Robert Wickens Canada Robert Wickens Canada Robert Wickens Report
R2 Canada Robert Wickens Lithuania Kazim Vasiliauskas Canada Robert Wickens
2 R1 Czech Republic Brno Italy Nicola de Marco Canada Robert Wickens Italy Mirko Bortolotti Report
R2 United Kingdom Henry Surtees Italy Nicola de Marco Spain Andy Soucek
3 R1 Belgium Spa-Francorchamps Germany Tobias Hegewald Germany Tobias Hegewald Germany Tobias Hegewald Report
R2 Germany Tobias Hegewald Germany Tobias Hegewald Germany Tobias Hegewald
4 R1 United Kingdom Brands Hatch Austria Philipp Eng Italy Mirko Bortolotti Austria Philipp Eng Report
R2 Spain Andy Soucek Spain Andy Soucek Spain Andy Soucek
5 R1 United Kingdom Donington Park Germany Tobias Hegewald France Julien Jousse Spain Andy Soucek Report
R2 France Julien Jousse France Julien Jousse France Julien Jousse
6 R1 Germany Oschersleben Spain Andy Soucek Spain Andy Soucek Spain Andy Soucek Report
R2 Russia Mikhail Aleshin Serbia Miloš Pavlović Russia Mikhail Aleshin
7 R1 Italy Imola Lithuania Kazim Vasiliauskas Lithuania Kazim Vasiliauskas Lithuania Kazim Vasiliauskas Report
R2 Canada Robert Wickens Canada Robert Wickens Spain Andy Soucek
8 R1 Spain Catalunya Canada Robert Wickens United Kingdom Jason Moore Spain Andy Soucek Report
R2 Canada Robert Wickens Spain Andy Soucek Spain Andy Soucek

Championship Standings

Pos Driver VAL
Spain
BRN
Czech Republic
SPA
Belgium
BRH
United Kingdom
DON
United Kingdom
OSC
Germany
IMO
Italy
CAT
Spain
Points
1 Spain Andy Soucek Ret 4 17 1 4 2 2 1 1 4 1 2 3 1 1 1 115
2 Canada Robert Wickens 1 1 9 Ret Ret 3 4 2 Ret Ret 8 4 4 2 Ret 3 64
3 Russia Mikhail Aleshin 4 6 2 Ret 18 8 10 3 2 7 5 1 7 Ret 2 7 59
4 Italy Mirko Bortolotti 6 2 1 Ret 9 9 Ret 5 10 3 2 Ret 2 Ret 6 Ret 50
5 France Julien Jousse 5 10 5 2 3 6 19 9 7 1 Ret 3 10 Ret 4 8 49
6 Germany Tobias Hegewald Ret 9 15 7 1 1 15 6 3 6 Ret 6 Ret 4 9 5 46
7 Lithuania Kazim Vasiliauskas 3 20 Ret 8 10 7 5 12 Ret 2 3 7 1 Ret 8 4 45
8 Austria Philipp Eng 12 3 3 9 Ret Ret 1 4 5 10 Ret Ret 5 10 5 9 39
9 Serbia Miloš Pavlović Ret 17 Ret 5 2 4 7 Ret Ret 8 Ret 21 6 3 10 19 29
10 Italy Nicola de Marco 9 5 12 3 13 11 9 Ret Ret Ret 6 5 Ret 9 11 2 25
11 Brazil Carlos Iaconelli 2 8 Ret Ret Ret 10 6 17 Ret 9 4 10 Ret 5 21
12 Italy Edoardo Piscopo Ret 7 7 4 8 14 8 7 4 Ret 12 8 13 Ret 19
13 France Tristan Vautier 3 6 9
14 United Kingdom Henry Surtees 7 12 Ret Ret 15 Ret 3 Ret 8
15 Finland Henri Karjalainen 17 15 4 16 7 15 11 18 15 13 Ret 15 11 15 16 17 7
16 Sweden Sebastian Hohenthal 10 13 Ret 12 17 12 Ret 14 6 5 17 9 9 12 Ret Ret 7
17 India Armaan Ebrahim 15 16 6 6 DNS Ret Ret 10 8 Ret 9 13 Ret Ret 12 10 7
18 United Kingdom Jack Clarke 13 19 Ret 15 5 Ret Ret Ret 9 14 7 Ret 14 14 17 14 6
19 United Kingdom Alex Brundle 8 23 11 Ret Ret 5 Ret 11 14 Ret Ret 11 17 Ret 15 12 5
20 United Kingdom Tom Gladdis 19 18 8 10 6 Ret 13 13 17 Ret 16 17 16 13 14 15 4
21 United Kingdom Jolyon Palmer 21 Ret 10 14 16 Ret 12 16 16 12 15 19 12 6 13 11 3
22 United Kingdom Jason Moore 16 14 13 11 Ret DNS 16 8 11 Ret 14 20 18 7 19 16 3
23 Switzerland Natacha Gachnang 11 Ret 14 Ret 11 13 14 15 13 Ret 11 12 15 Ret 7 13 2
24 Spain Germán Sánchez 14 11 16 Ret 12 Ret 17 Ret 12 11 Ret 16 8 8 DNS DNS 2
25 United Kingdom Ollie Hancock 10 18 Ret 11 Ret 11 18 18 0
26 Germany Jens Höing 18 21 Ret 13 Ret 16 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 14 Ret Ret Ret 21 0
27 Italy Pietro Gandolfi 20 22 Ret Ret 14 17 18 Ret Ret 15 NC 22 Ret Ret Ret 20 0
Pos Driver VAL
Spain
BRN
Czech Republic
SPA
Belgium
BRH
United Kingdom
DON
United Kingdom
OSC
Germany
IMO
Italy
CAT
Spain
Points
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

References

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