The 2011 FIA Formula Two Championship season was the third year of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The championship began on 17 April at Silverstone and finished on 30 October at the Circuit de Catalunya, after eight double-header rounds and all (excluding Silverstone) in support of International GT Open racing weekends.
For most of the season, the championship battle revolved around a returning driver Mirko Bortolotti, who finished fourth in 2009, and rookie driver Christopher Zanella. Bortolotti took the lead after winning in the opening race of the season at Silverstone and led until the end of the season. The Italian secured his title and a prize test for the Williams F1 team in the home race at Monza with two races to spare. Bortolotti scored seven wins in a season matching 2009 Champion Andy Soucek record and with win in 2009 at Brno the Italian took absolute win record in FIA Formula Two Championship.
Zanella finished in second place in the standings with two wins, 123 points behind Bortolotti and just eight ahead of his nearest rival and another newcomer Ramón Piñeiro, who scored three wins. The fourth place went to Piñeiro compatriot and winner of the Silverstone's race Miki Monrás.
Drivers Driver Rounds 2 James Cole All 3 Armaan Ebrahim 1–6 4 Mirko Bortolotti All 5 Alex Brundle All 6 Miki Monrás All 8 Plamen Kralev All 9 Mihai Marinescu All 10 Max Snegirev All 11 Jack Clarke All 12 Kelvin Snoeks All 13 José Luis Abadín 1–3, 5, 8 14 Jolyon Palmer 4 15 Ramón Piñeiro All 16 Mikkel Mac All 17 Will Bratt 1–4 18 Tobias Hegewald All 19 Christopher Zanella All 20 Julian Theobald 1–4, 6–7 21 Thiemo Storz All 22 Johannes Theobald 1–4, 6 23 Jon Lancaster 2 24 Tom Gladdis 1 25 René Binder 6 26 Luciano Bacheta 6–7 28 Benjamin Lariche All 30 Tom Mun All 33 Parthiva Sureshwaren 1, 3–8 42 Jordan King 3–5 77 Natalia Kowalska 1–2 88 Fabio Gamberini 4
Driver changes Entering/Re–Entering FIA Formula Two Championship José Luis Abadín graduated from European F3 Open to compete in the championship. Mirko Bortolotti, Alex Brundle and Tobias Hegewald all returned to the championship, after competing in other series in 2010. Bortolotti and Hegewald moved back from the GP3 Series, while Brundle will rejoin from British Formula 3. James Cole moved into the series from the British Formula 3 National Class. Max Snegirev also joined Formula Two from the Championship Class in British Formula 3. Formula Renault NEC runner-up Mikkel Mac moved into Formula Two in 2011. Miki Monrás switched from GP3 Series to compete in the championship. Sung-Hak Mun joined the championship after racing in Formula BMW Pacific in 2010. Thiemo Storz moved into the championship, having missed most of 2010 due to completing his schooling and competing in the last Formula Palmer Audi season. After finishing sixth in the Italian Formula Three Championship, Christopher Zanella graduated into Formula Two in 2011.
Leaving FIA Formula Two Championship 2010 champion Dean Stoneman had been due to compete with ISR Racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2011, but withdrew after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. 2010 runner-up Jolyon Palmer graduated to GP2, signing with the Arden International team. Palmer returned to Formula Two at the Nürburgring, in order to gain track time ahead of the GP2 races at the circuit later in the season. Sergey Afanasyev, who finished third in 2010 moved to Auto GP with DAMS.
Mid-Season Changes Jordan King, Jon Lancaster and Fabio Gamberini joined the series during the season. Lancaster contested the Magny-Cours round, after racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series during the 2010 season, while King is combining his Formula Two programme with Formula Renault UK. Gamberini, a front-runner in the European F3 Open series, competed at the Nürburgring.
Calendar An eight-round calendar was published on 3 November 2010, with an amendment made to the Magny-Cours date on 8 December 2010. The series was not part of the support package of the World Touring Car Championship as it had been since the series' revival. With the exception of the opening round at Silverstone, the championship was a part of International GT Open meetings. Round Circuit/Location Country Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Report 1 R1 Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire 16 April Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti Report R2 17 April Miki Monrás Miki Monrás Miki Monrás 2 R1 Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours France 14 May Alex Brundle Christopher Zanella Christopher Zanella Report R2 15 May Christopher Zanella Miki Monrás Christopher Zanella 3 R1 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 25 June Ramón Piñeiro Ramón Piñeiro Will Bratt Report R2 26 June Will Bratt Tobias Hegewald Mirko Bortolotti 4 R1 Nürburgring 2 July Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti Report R2 3 July Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti 5 R1 Brands Hatch, Kent 23 July Tobias Hegewald Jack Clarke Jack Clarke Report R2 24 July Mirko Bortolotti Ramón Piñeiro Ramón Piñeiro 6 R1 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 27 August Ramón Piñeiro Mirko Bortolotti Ramón Piñeiro Report R2 28 August Christopher Zanella Mirko Bortolotti Ramón Piñeiro 7 R1 Autodromo Nazionale Monza 1 October Mihai Marinescu Mihai Marinescu Mihai Marinescu Report R2 2 October Mirko Bortolotti Mihai Marinescu Mirko Bortolotti 8 R1 Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló 29 October Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti Report R2 30 October Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti Mirko BortolottiSources:
Championship standings A driver's best 14 scores counted towards the championship, with any other points being discarded. Pos. Driver SIL MAG SPA NÜR BRH RBR MNZ CAT Points 1 Mirko Bortolotti 1 2 6 3 2 1 1 1 5 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 Christopher Zanella 7 3 1 1 3 2 2 3 6 7 12 4 5 6 6 7 3 Ramón Piñeiro 5 11 5 9 7 12 14 10 2 1 1 1 4 2 3 2 185 4 Miki Monrás 3 1 4 4 9 4 4 8 4 9 Ret 11 17 3 2 4 153 5 Mihai Marinescu 4 5 Ret 5 8 5 Ret 11 Ret 4 3 3 1 Ret 5 3 138 6 Tobias Hegewald 6 4 2 8 4 Ret 12 4 3 5 15 6 6 9 4 11 121 7 Alex Brundle 19 Ret 3 2 5 7 Ret 5 Ret 17 4 Ret 3 4 8 5 112 8 Jack Clarke 8 6 13 10 19 6 3 7 1 3 5 Ret 8 7 7 9 110 9 Will Bratt 2 DSQ 8 7 1 3 7 2 92 10 Kelvin Snoeks Ret 8 10 Ret 10 9 6 19 Ret Ret Ret 5 11 8 9 6 40 11 Mikkel Mac 12 9 15 12 11 14 8 6 13 11 Ret 9 9 11 10 8 23 12 Thiemo Storz 14 14 9 15 6 10 9 15 Ret Ret Ret 14 7 Ret 11 16 19 13 Luciano Bacheta 7 10 10 5 18 14 Jordan King 17 8 5 9 Ret 10 17 15 Armaan Ebrahim 11 7 12 Ret 13 20 15 13 9 6 14 Ret 16 16 Benjamin Lariche 13 10 11 13 20 Ret 13 12 Ret 8 8 8 13 10 13 10 15 17 Jon Lancaster 7 6 14 18 Max Snegirev 9 Ret 16 14 14 13 11 18 7 Ret 11 7 16 Ret 12 12 14 19 Julian Theobald 17 Ret 17 Ret 15 15 16 Ret 6 12 Ret Ret 8 20 James Cole 15 13 18 17 16 16 18 14 8 12 9 18 14 15 14 15 6 21 Johannes Theobald Ret 16 14 11 12 Ret 10 Ret Ret 16 1 22 José Luis Abadín 16 18 Ret 16 18 11 10 15 15 13 1 23 Plamen Kralev Ret 17 Ret 18 Ret 18 17 17 12 13 10 15 12 13 16 17 1 24 Tom Gladdis 10 15 1 25 Parthiva Sureshwaren 18 Ret 21 19 DNS Ret 11 14 Ret 17 15 14 17 14 0 26 Sung-Hak Mun 20 19 19 19 Ret 17 19 Ret 14 16 13 19 Ret 12 Ret DNS 0 27 Natalia Kowalska Ret 12 Ret 20 0 28 René Binder 16 13 0 29 Fabio Gamberini 20 16 0 Jolyon Palmer DNS DNS 0 Pos Driver SIL MAG SPA NÜR BRH RBR MNZ CAT PointsSource:Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap † – Retired, but classified
References
External links The official website of the FIA Formula Two Championship