FIA Formula Two Championships 2009-Spaniard Soucek storms to victory with Air Seychelles’ colours |27 August 2009

He is the first driver to achieve three victories at this year’s championship comprising 16 rounds, with the Donnington Park race being the ninth and 10th rounds. The F2 races are being held in Spain, the Czech Republic, France, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Air Seychelles’ executive chairman, captain David Savy, has said: “Motor racing is a high-visibility sport, and with the Air Seychelles logo on Andy Soucek’s car – he is leading the F2 Championships which are being covered by the global Eurosport television channel – both Air Seychelles and Seychelles are being promoted worldwide as a tourism destination.

“This is seen as a good marketing initiative taken by the airline and the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), among other international sponsors.”

The STB logo will also appear on Soucek’s car when he takes part in the final rounds in Barcelona in November.

Soucek started from third on the grid and made a fantastic getaway to lead into the first corner, while pole-sitter Tobias Hegewald dropped to third behind Mikhail Aleshin. Soucek continued to pull a gap on his rivals behind, setting his fastest lap towards the end of the race and went on to win comfortably by nearly 10 seconds.

“This was the kind of race you dream about – it was perfect,” said Soucek.
“From the start, I hit the boost at just the right moment and in the right place, and it was fantastic. I don't think I will be able to repeat such a start many times. I'm really pleased, particularly for my mechanic who did a fantastic job repairing my car after my crash during race two, and it was just perfect.

“I was just amazed that every lap I saw my times and they were exactly the same. My rhythm was very consistent, which is the most important thing in a race, so I'm really happy.”

The first two race rounds were held in Valencia on May 29-31, while Brno in the Czech Republic hosted the third and fourth rounds from June 19-21, with the fifth and sixth rounds raced in Spa, France, from June 26-28. The United Kingdom hosted the seventh and eighth rounds at Brands Hatch from July 17-19 followed by the ninth and 10th rounds at Donington Park.

The 13th and 14th races will be held at Imola, from September 18-20, and the final rounds 15 and 16 in Barcelona from October 30 to November 1.

Soucek drives the F2 car designed by Williams F1 featuring ground-effect aerodynamics and includes a sophisticated composite survival cell complying with the 2005 F1 safety regulations. The transmission is a six-speed Hewland unit with pneumatically operated paddle shift.

The F2 car engine is powered by an Audi 1.8-litre turbo engine with 400bhp on standard boost and 450bhp on over-boost. The engines on all cars will have identical power within 1.5% of the target. The over-boost facility is actuated by a steering wheel button which increases maximum power by 50bhp