19 Mar 2010: Bratt and Rees join F2 while Jakes takes on GP3
Will Bratt and Paul Rees have become the latest British drivers to sign up for Formula Two this season, while James Jakes looks to have found a place in the new GP3 series.
Will Bratt and Paul Rees have become the latest British drivers to sign up for Formula Two this season, while James Jakes looks to have found a place in the new GP3 series.
In one of the least surprising driver announcements of the pre-season, 19-year-old Jolyon Palmer is to drive for a second season in Formula Two – the championship run by his father Jonathan.
Jack Clarke, who led home a cluster of British drivers in the lower reaches of last year’s Formula Two championship, is to return to the series in 2010 – with high hopes of putting his hard-won experience to good use.
Bedford racer Nick Tandy reckons that a drive in this year’s F2 championship could be his last realistic prospect of a full-time career in single-seater racing.
This season’s Formula Two car has made what series organisers call “a hugely impressive track debut” after recording times of around three seconds a lap faster than its predecessor.
The close links between Formula Palmer Audi and Formula Two have developed further with the news that the winner of the junior series in 2010 will get £100,000 off the cost of running in the next year’s F2 campaign.
Dean Smith carried the momentum of his McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award victory forward into Formula Two testing in Portimao, topping two of the six sessions and finishing third-fastest overall.
It’s the time of year when the season’s most successful teams and drivers are making room in the trophy cabinet – and some of 2009’s more significant silverware was handed over on Friday evening.
Denmark’s Johan Jokinen was again fastest in the second day of Formula Two winter testing in Valencia, his morning time of 1min 26.106sec outpacing Britons Jolyon Palmer and Dan Clarke.
Denmark’s Johan Jokinen topped the timesheets on the first day of Formula Two’s winter test in Valencia as the only driver able to get under the 1:27 mark.