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Charles Leclerc has set the pace in the penultimate free practice session of the 2017 FIA Formula 2 Championship this morning at the Circuito de Jerez, topping the timesheets on 1:25.452 halfway through the session before concentrating on race runs to claim the top spot ahead of title rival Oliver Rowland and Nyck De Vries.

The session got underway to gloriously sunny conditions, with Artem Markelov leading all of the field out on track when the green light came on.

Rowland set the first competitive lap time 5 minutes into the session but was briefly displaced by Nobuharu Matsushita before reclaiming the top spot, just ahead of Leclerc and De Vries.

The red flags emerged at the 9 minute mark when Ralph Boschung got stranded on the kerbs at turn 10, with all of his rivals returning to the pits as the marshals got to work on removing the stricken car.

The session was green 9 minutes later, with Leclerc heading straight out to claim the top spot before everyone got to work on their long run simulations.

There was little in the way of wayward action for the rest of the session, with Sean Gelael getting stranded at turn 13 just as the session came to a close.

Sergio Sette Camara set the pace behind the top 3, just ahead of Nicholas Latifi, Matsushita, Norman Nato, Alexander Albon, Louis Deletraz and Markelov in a session which saw the top 16 drivers within a second of the top spot, promising drama for this afternoon’s qualifying session.

Preliminary Free Practice Classification

 Pos

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1

Charles LECLERC

PREMA Racing

1:25.293

18

2

Oliver ROWLAND

DAMS

1:25.461

18

3

Nyck DE VRIES

Racing Engineering

1:25.735

16

4

Sergio SETTE CAMARA

MP Motorsport

1:25.868

19

5

Nicholas LATIFI

DAMS

1:25.940

19

6

Nobuharu MATSUSHITA

ART Grand Prix

1:25.975

19

7

Norman NATO

Pertamina Arden

1:25.985

19

8

Alexander ALBON

ART Grand Prix

1:25.988

18

9

Louis DELÉTRAZ

Rapax

1:26.050

18

10

Artem MARKELOV

RUSSIAN TIME

1:26.072

18

11

Gustav MALJA

Racing Engineering

1:26.108

18

12

Sean GELAEL

Pertamina Arden

1:26.195

18

13

Luca GHIOTTO

RUSSIAN TIME

1:26.203

17

14

Santino FERRUCCI

Trident

1:26.214

19

15

Antonio FUOCO

PREMA Racing

1:26.247

13

16

Alex PALOU

Campos Racing

1:26.287

19

17

Jordan KING

MP Motorsport

1:26.430

16

18

Nabil JEFFRI

Trident

1:26.801

17

19

René BINDER

Rapax

1:26.981

18

20

Ralph BOSCHUNG

Campos Racing

1:46.217

3

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Luca Ghiotto has reset his emotional clock after a penalty handed down last night lost his feature race victory to countryman Antonio Fuoco by claiming a dominant victory in this morning’s FIA Formula 2 Championship sprint race, with a formidable drive on his home circuit to claim a popular win ahead of Sergio Sette Camara and Fuoco.

When the lights went out poleman Gustav Malja bogged down, leaving a clear run for a fast starting Sean Gelael to blast into the lead ahead of Louis Deletraz, Sette Camara, Malja and Ghiotto, who held station at the start but had big plans for the race: Deletraz cut both chicanes and had to give way to the Indonesian twice as they headed station ahead of the rest of the field.

The Swiss driver was looking for more though, and was back through Gelael for the lead at Rettifilo on lap 4, just before Ghiotto dispatched Malja on the inside of Parabolica for P4: the Swede ran deep at turn 1, losing out to Nicholas Latifi and Fuoco as just ahead of them Ghiotto mugged Gelael at the Lesmo complex for 3rd, leaving a line through the Indonesian for Latifi at Ascari.

Ghiotto was on a charge to reclaim the home win, and his job was made a little easier when Sette Camara cut Roggia next time through and had to cede position to the Italian, who now had just Deletraz between him and victory: the inevitable pass came on lap 11, when Ghiotto mugged the Swiss driver at Lesmo 1 for a lead which he would hold tight for the remainder of the race as he eased away from the squabbles behind him.

Sette Camara was determined to show that his Spa victory was the start of a purple period for him, easing by Deletraz on the front straight for P2 but unable to close down the leader, with the action moving further back in the order:

Artem Markelov lost a front wing element as he pushed past Latifi at Lesmo 2 for P7 before undoing his good work by running deep next time through at turn 1, giving Latifi a run back past next time around to reclaim the position.

As the laps rolled down Ghiotto pushed on, claiming the chequered flag two seconds ahead of Sette Camara to the delight of the crowd, with another roar greeting Fuoco as he claimed his second podium of the weekend for P3, with a huge contingent of his fans camped on the finish line unable to contain their delight.

Deletraz came home alone in P4, with a long gap back to Roberto Merhi who claimed more points for the weekend after dispatching Gelael late in the race, and Nobuharu Matsushita and Alexander Albon swapping places on the final lap after the pair took advantage late on of a clearly struggling Latifi.

After a dramatic weekend there was no change at the top of the drivers’ standings, with Charles Leclerc still leading Oliver Rowland by 218 points to 159, with Markelov pushing up by 2 to 152 points just ahead of teammate Ghiotto on 150, while in the teams’ title RUSSIAN TIME (302) have opened a small gap to PREMA Racing (295) and DAMS (291) ahead of the penultimate round of the 2017 championship in Jerez on 6-8 October.

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Formula 2 is set to be prioritised as the main route for young drivers to reach Formula 1 with an overhaul of the points system for superlicences, according to series Technical Director Didier Perrin.

Currently, a driver wishing to reach F1 must attain 40 points on his superlicence over a three-year period which are earned from results in other championships. However, various series including IndyCar, Formula E, LMP1 in WEC and European F3 match F2 in offering the full 40 points to their champions, offering a number of paths by which to reach the goal.

Since the former GP2 series was rebranded for this year, the governing body has sought to increase its stature and now it looks set to stand alone as the second highest rung on the motorsport ladder.

"The superlicence points system is going to be revised," Perrin told Autosport. "It's going to become almost compulsory to race in F2 - it won't be mandatory in theory, but it will be the preferred path to F1."

The reason for the introduction of the points system was to try and increase the level of experience drivers have before they race in F1, following the rapid rise of Max Verstappen in 2014 barely a year out of karting, and to try and ensure talented drivers are rewarded by getting greater opportunities.  

"It's very important - we want to give some value back to the driver's competitiveness rather than their wallet," Perrin continued. "It will promote F2 a lot, as it will be the category that gives the most points and the best technical preparation to go to F1.

"It will be published soon. I don't want to speak on behalf of the FIA since the FIA is going to give it, but everything will be done for F2 to become almost a prerequisite for F1."

The FIA has also looked to make F2 the most accurate representation of racing in F1 in a junior series and, at Monza, introduced the new 2018 car which follows the 2017 F1 design changes, features the Halo and will see a turbocharged engine replace the current naturally aspirated V8.

"We think the performance and positioning of the current F2 car are very much what the drivers need to prepare for F1," Perrin explained, revealing the new car will not be faster.

"Our goal was not to go quicker, we just want to have the same level of performance as the current car, but with a car which is closer to F1, so that the drivers are better prepared for F1."

 

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Luca Ghiotto has lost the win in this afternoon’s feature race at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza after the race stewards judged him to have gained an advantage after exceeding track limits at the first chicane on the last lap of the race, handing the Italian a 5 second penalty for his actions.

On the final lap Ghiotto was fighting with Nyck De Vries for the lead of the race, but slid wide at the Variante del Rettifilo: the Italian cut the corner before rejoining the circuit, while behind him De Vries and Charles Leclerc came together, with the Monegasque driver running wide and the Dutchman picking up a puncture.

The stewards judged that Ghiotto gained an advantage from the move, and have handed him a 5 second time penalty as well as stripping him of the fastest lap: Antonio Fuoco was promoted to the victory, ahead of Nobuharu Matsushita and Nicholas Latifi, with Ghiotto now classified 4th.

The remaining classified points positions are for Sean Gelael in P5 ahead of Sergio Sette Camara, Louis Deletraz, Gustav Malja in P8 for the reverse pole, Artem Markelov and Jordan King. Latifi also collects the points for fastest lap.

Alexander Albon was also given a time penalty after the stewards judged him to have caused a collision with Norman Nato on the final lap: the Thai driver, who crossed the line in P5, had 10 seconds added to his time for a classification of 14th.

De Vries also collected a penalty after the stewards judged him to have caused a collision with Leclerc out of the first chicane on the final lap: the Dutchman, who didn’t finish the race due to the puncture he collected in the collision, was given a drive through penalty, which was converted into a 20 seconds time penalty.

 

         

 

 

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