INDIA in F1

Category: F2

  • Albon grabs first F2 pole in Baku qualifying; Arjun Maini on P8

    Albon grabs first F2 pole in Baku qualifying; Arjun Maini on P8

    Baku, 27 April 2018: Alexander Albon of DAMS took his maiden FIA Formula 2 Championship pole position at Baku, Azerbaijan, snatching the quickest lap on his final run of a 1:54.480 just before the session ended on a red flag to go ahead of Carlin’s Lando Norris and George Russell of ART Grand Prix.
    Alexandar Albon takes F2 pole at Baku on Friday. An FIA image

    Reprising their roles from the earlier free practice session, Trident duo Santino Ferrucci and Arjun Maini scampered out of the pitlane first at the beginning of the session, quickly followed by Norris, Jack Aitken and Sergio Sette Camara, the latter of whom set the fastest time in the morning’s practice. Indian racer Maini qualified in P8.  As soon as the field got started on their first flying laps, Maximilian Günther crawled to a halt after the first corner to bring out a first red flag, pausing the session after the opening five minutes of running. The Trident drivers got the ball rolling once more at the restart, with Artem Markelov rushing to the front of the pack to make up for a lack of running in the morning practice session.

    Norris set the early pace, a benchmark within the 1m55s, which was beaten shortly after by Albon who collected a tow from the British driver on the next cycle around the track. Luca Ghiotto then grabbed top spot by a tenth, before his Campos Vexatec Racing teammate Roy Nissany brought the first phase of flying laps to an end after going off-road, bringing out a yellow flag.
    With the field retreating to the pits for fresh supersoft tyres, Norris and Russell battled to wrest pole from Ghiotto, setting the same first sectors as each other before Albon put the pair in the shade with a session-best opening split. Norris grabbed provisional pole, but the Thai driver snatched top spot by two tenths to go quickest overall.
    As the front-runners plotted their next runs, Nicholas Latifi spun at Turn 7 and came to a stop, creating a brief traffic jam with Antonio Fuoco before a red flag was waved with less than a minute of the session left to run. With no time for the drivers to start new laps, the session was declared over to cement Albon’s first F2 pole ahead of Norris and Russell.
    Ghiotto beat Ferrucci to fourth place, as Sette Camara and Aitken were sixth and seventh. Maini was eighth quickest, completing the top half of the field with Nyck de Vries and Ralph Boschung respectively.
    Tomorrow’s Feature Race will start at 12pm tomorrow and, with a history of hosting fascinating races, the Baku City Circuit should throw up quite a spectacle.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 2 Qualifying: Baku, Azerbaijan
    Driver
    Team
    Time
    Laps
    1
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    1:54.480
    9
    2
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    1:54.694
    8
    3
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    1:54.842
    10
    4
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    1:54.980
    10
    5
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    1:55.200
    9
    6
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    1:55.212
    9
    7
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    1:55.236
    9
    8
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    1:55.474
    9
    9
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:55.728
    9
    10
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    1:55.761
    9
    11
    Maximilian Günther
    BWT Arden
    1:55.970
    9
    12
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:56.139
    8
    13
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    1:56.532
    9
    14
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    1:57.090
    9
    15
    Louis Delétraz
    Charouz Racing System
    1:57.105
    9
    16
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    1:57.351
    9
    17
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:57.508
    10
    18
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:57.604
    9
    19
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    2:01.902
    5
    20
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    2:02.970
    8
  • ‘The Flying Taurus’ is at it again; FIA F-2 beckons popular star Ajith

    ‘The Flying Taurus’ is at it again; FIA F-2 beckons popular star Ajith

    Ajith Kumar all geared up. INDIAinF1 file photo

    We at India in F1.com know him best as the Flying Taurus! The South Indian film star and motor racing enthusiast, Ajith Kumar is all set to take part in this year’s FIA Formula 2 Championship. This will be his third season in International racing. After his 2003 Debut in the Formula BMW Asia Championship, where he qualified 4th and finished 6th for his best result in the Korean leg, he entered the British Formula 3 Scholarship Class in 2004, where he scored two podium finishes.

    Chennai, 24 March 2010: South Indian film star and motor racing enthusiast, Ajith Kumar is all set to take part in this year’s FIA Formula 2 Championship. This will be his third season in International racing after his 2003 Debut in the Formula BMW Asia Championship, where his best results were in Korea (Qualified 4th and finished 6th) and the 2004 races in British Formula 3 Scholarship Class, where he scored two podium finishes.

    Ajith feels that the time is ripe for providing a much-needed impetus to the motor racing scene in India considering a few interesting developments in the sporting activity. While ace driver Narain Karthikeyan was the first Indian to get into Formula 1, he is now closely followed by Karun Chandhok who is racing in Formula 1 this year. In Formula 2, apart from Ajith Kumar, there are two other Indians in the fray – Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaran. All this, Ajith feels, will induce more Indian youngsters to take to the sport. In the Indian racing scene, apart from the established JK Tyre series, in recent times, we have seen MRF also entering with their own Formula racing series. Volkswagen is introducing a new series of saloon car racing with its Polo cars.

    “I have the confidence of achieving some success in this year’s FIA Formula 2 European Championships. I have already done some testing in Malaysia recently and am looking forward to more practice runs in Snetterton & Silverstone before the event kicks off on April 16th. I hope my participation along with the other two Indians, Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaran will create the right amount of interest in the sport in India,” says Ajith Kumar.

    F2 Series Director Jonathan Palmer said: “I am delighted to welcome Ajith to F2. To have a well known Indian film star who has demonstrated such ambition now racing in F2 is very exciting for the championship, and I really admire Ajith’s determination and enthusiasm. Paul Newman demonstrated that international celebrities can be competitive in international motorsport – and late in his career.  Ajith, on the other hand, is several years younger than both Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. The F2 team and other drivers look forward to giving maximum support to help Ajith become increasingly competitive.”

    His professional approach to racing, as much as his involvement in films, is to be seen as a much-needed impetus to motorsports, especially in view of impending Formula 1 event expected to take place in India in 2011. Towards this end and based on his decision to turn a professional racer and make it a career alongside his acting profession, Ajith Kumar has hired the services of Eurasia Motorsport Management, the UK run by Piers Hunnisett to handle all his international motor racing activities and manage his racing career. Ajith’s foray into F2 would not have been possible without the help and support of Jonathan Palmer, Piers Hunnisett and Narain Karthikeyan.

    (Note: This article is reloaded from old database.)