OLLIE HANCOCK SECURES FORMULA 2 DRIVE

Ollie Hancock has secured a drive for the final three rounds of the 2009 FIA Formula 2 Championship.

The 21-year-old BRDC Rising Star’s first race will be next weekend (4-6 September) in Oschersleben before heading to Imola and then Barcelona for the end of the season.

Ollie began his season in Formula Renault UK but had always had Formula 2 in mind with a view to get a few races under his belt ahead of a full season in 2010.

The Reigning British Formula Renault 2.0 BARC champion’s first chance to get behind the wheel of a Formula 2 car was at a test at Bedford Autodrome yesterday where he was 0.2 seconds off the top times set there earlier in the year.

Ollie said: “I’m really excited. It’s so nice to be driving something that handles so well and was glad to have been so close to the top times so quickly.”

Ollie will spend the next few weeks trying to learn the tracks, which are all new to him before taking to the grid alongside fellow BRDC Rising Star Robert Wickens and BRDC Superstar Jason Moore.