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2021 FIA Formula 2 Season


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#1 balage06

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 08:18

Piastri announced at Prema for 2021:
https://mailchi.mp/p...th-prema-racing

Provisional calendar:
01 - Sakhir, Bahrain - 26-28 March
02 - Monte Carlo, Monaco - 20-22 May
03 - Baku, Azerbaijan - 04-06 June
04 - Silverstone, UK - 16-18 July
05 - Monza, Italy - 10-12 September
06 - Sochi, Russia - 24-26 September
07 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - 03-05 December
08 - Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi - 10-12 December

New weekend format:
For cost-cutting measures, the F2 and F3 field will no longer share the paddock, the two championships will alternate between GP weekends instead. The number of rounds will be reduced to eight, but three races will be held each weekend in return, keeping the number of races the same as before.

Friday:
Free Practice - 45 mins
Qualifying - 30 mins

Saturday:
Sprint Race 1 - 45 mins, top 10 from Qualifying starts reversed
Sprint Race 2 - 45 mins, top 10 from Sprint Race 1 starts reversed

Sunday:
Feature Race - 60 mins, starts in Qualifying order

Teams and Drivers:

ART Grand Prix - Christian Lundgaard, Théo Pourchaire

Campos Racing - Ralph Boschung, Gianluca Petecof

Carlin Motorsport - Jehan Daruvala, Dan Ticktum

DAMS - Roy Nissany, Marcus Armstrong

Hitech Grand Prix - Jüri Vips, Liam Lawson

HWA Racelab - Matteo Nannini, Alessio Deledda

MP Motorsport - Lirim Zendeli, Richard Verschoor
Prema Racing - Oscar Piastri, Robert Shwartzman
UNI Virtuosi - Felipe Drugovich, Guanyu Zhou

Trident - Bent Viscaal, Marino Sato


Edited by balage06, 26 March 2021 - 07:24.


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#2 pitlanepalpatine

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 09:09

Piastri announced at Prema for 2021:

https://mailchi.mp/p...th-prema-racing

 

Provisional calendar:

01 - Sakhir, Bahrain - 26-28 March

02 - Monte Carlo, Monaco - 20-23 May

03 - Baku, Azerbaijan - 04-06 June

04 - Silverstone, UK - 16-18 July

05 - Monza, Italy - 10-12 September

06 - Sochi, Russia - 24-26 September

07 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - 26-28 November

08 - Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi - 03-05 December

 

For cost-cutting measures, the F2 and F3 field will no longer share the paddock, the two championships will alternate between GP weekends instead. The number of rounds will be reduced to eight, but three races will be held each weekend in return, keeping the number of races the same as before.

 

Teams and Drivers:

Prema Racing - Oscar Piastri

 

That must mean Schumachers deal is done and dusted as well.



#3 balage06

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 11:14

And we have the second announcement already, surprisinigly, Boschung returns with Campos:

https://twitter.com/...728113172361216



#4 ANF

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 11:18

Oh! I was thinking of him yesterday and wondered if he's still racing.

#5 Frood

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 12:50

Wow. Boschung. I am whelmed. Not over- or under-. Just whelmed.

At least he's better than Samaia.

#6 Whatisvalis

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 12:58

I’ve not followed F3 this year - is there any genuine talent coming into F2 for 21?

#7 Disgrace

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 13:06

I’ve not followed F3 this year - is there any genuine talent coming into F2 for 21?

 

Pourchaire seems to be the one to watch.



#8 balage06

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 13:33

Tbh I don't really understand why always only Pourchaire gets highlighted, everyone could have been champion from the top 5 with slightly more luck and/or patience. And Piastri was also a rookie.



#9 Viryfan

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 13:38

Tbh I don't really understand why always only Pourchaire gets highlighted, everyone could have been champion from the top 5 with slightly more luck and/or patience. And Piastri was also a rookie.

 

Because he was by far the youngest of the competitors in the title hunt, the leap from german f4 is also much bigger than from F3R.



#10 Disgrace

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 13:39

Tbh I don't really understand why always only Pourchaire gets highlighted, everyone could have been champion from the top 5 with slightly more luck and/or patience. And Piastri was also a rookie.

 

I suppose Pourchaire is younger and less experienced, which inevitably comes with an aura of "ooh, he might be the one". But equally a step up to F2 next year could be a lot to ask.



#11 balage06

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 13:40

Because he was by far the youngest of the competitors in the title hunt, the leap from german f4 is also much bigger than from F3R.

 

I get that, but I just don't think that automatically means that he was the one who left the most on the table.


Edited by balage06, 01 December 2020 - 13:41.


#12 Viryfan

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 14:00

I get that, but I just don't think that automatically means that he was the one who left the most on the table.

 

i understand that but there is also i think the hype, he is young very present in social media (much more so than Beckmann, Vesti, Lawson or Sargent), the only one thar compares in social media is Piastri.

 

numbers of followers just tell you the story


Edited by Viryfan, 01 December 2020 - 14:02.


#13 messy

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 14:04

At least Boschung isn't Samaia who's basically Raghunathan mk2 - but I do hope Campos hire a slightly more inspiring driver to put alongside him because they'd grown into such a credible team with Ghiotto then Aitken in the cars. 



#14 Frood

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 15:40

It'll be interesting to see how Piastri does in F2. I will admit I'm not convinced yet on him due to the Prema factor in F3 and I'm more excited about Pourchaire, though it's difficult to judge Pourchaire as you don't know what sort of benchmark Fernandez and Smolyar were last year as team-mates.

I don't think Pourchaire disgraced himself last weekend - he beat Markelov and Sato, which is about the maximum the HWA can achieve and was just behind Alesi, whom he replaced. Should be another good season either way.

I'd expect Lundgaard to be the driver to beat in F2 next year, although there are rumours Drugovich may be taking Ilott's seat at Virtuosi which might catapult him into contention. Shwartzman should be up there if he stays another year, which I guess he will.

Edited by Frood, 01 December 2020 - 15:40.


#15 Muppetmad

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 16:21

I thought Pourchaire did a pretty great job, considering the circumstances. Markelov has had a rough season, sure, but he's not a slouch - to beat somebody so experienced immediately, and in a pretty rubbish car at that, bodes well for him next year.



#16 sportyskells

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 16:29

Now we know the format for the three races
Friday as per normal with practice then qualifying
Saturday morning will be sprint race 1 with the top ten from Friday qualifying reversed
Saturday Afternoon is sprint race 2 with the top ten seeing the checked flag from the 1st race reversed
Sunday is the pit stop race and baring grid pens it is the grid that is set on Friday aftrrnoon

#17 ANF

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 16:37

Saturday morning will be sprint race 1 with the top ten from Friday qualifying reversed

Aediyttihsatahw.

#18 HistoryFan

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 16:40

According to formulascout.com Shwartzman is expected to stay with Prema and Hitech will run Jüri Vips and Liam Lawson. Guilherme Samaia also will test for his current team Campos in the post-season test.

 

I think we'll a huge shake-up at the grid for next year as a lot of drivers will climb up to Formula: Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and Nikita Mazepin.

If Callum Ilott will win the title he also wouldn't be allowed to race in Formula 2.

 

And there are some longterm drivers like Ghiotto, Zhou, Markelov and so on who I didn't see to return.

 

Prema: Oscar Piastri - Robert Shwartzman (?)

Virtuosi:

Hitech: Jüri Vips (?) - Liam Lawson (?)

Carlin:

ART:

MP:

Charouz:

DAMS:

Campos: Ralph Boschung – Guilherme Samaia (?)

HWA:

Trident:



#19 ANF

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 16:44

This is Zhou's second season in F2... I hope he will be back next year.

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#20 Muppetmad

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 16:58

Vips, Lawson, Shwartzman, Piastri, Pourchaire, Lundgaard... that'd be a very talented line-up.


Edited by Muppetmad, 01 December 2020 - 16:59.


#21 jonpollak

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 17:18

Tbh I don't really understand why always only Pourchaire gets highlighted....

It's his hair !

He's got a future in advertising beauty products as indicated by him setting off the on-board fire extinguisher hair foam applicator.

 

Jp



#22 Sardukar

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Posted 01 December 2020 - 23:49

Tbh I don't really understand why always only Pourchaire gets highlighted, everyone could have been champion from the top 5 with slightly more luck and/or patience. And Piastri was also a rookie.

 

Because the F3 weekend format is a joke, reverse grids make some drivers stand out and look better than others. Meanwhile Piastri was the most consistent even though he had more mechanical problems than everyone else around him. Then you have guys like Lawson constantly finishing around 10th in the first race which then makes him look good for race 2.



#23 Myrvold

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Posted 02 December 2020 - 06:12

Because the F3 weekend format is a joke, reverse grids make some drivers stand out and look better than others. Meanwhile Piastri was the most consistent even though he had more mechanical problems than everyone else around him. Then you have guys like Lawson constantly finishing around 10th in the first race which then makes him look good for race 2.


Now I had to check 2020. Lawson had 3 podiums (one on each spot) in feature races, ans 3 in sprint (2x1st 1x3rd). Those three sprint podiums were the only sprint races he finished better than the corresponding feature race.

#24 beachdrifter

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Posted 02 December 2020 - 12:12

So with Mick's announcement finally out, does the championship leader in F2 typically make it to F1 or not? I mean is it 50:50 or better?

 

(oops, this is the 2021 thread I just realized, question should still apply)


Edited by beachdrifter, 02 December 2020 - 12:14.


#25 SpaceHorseParty

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Posted 02 December 2020 - 12:41

So with Mick's announcement finally out, does the championship leader in F2 typically make it to F1 or not? I mean is it 50:50 or better?

 

(oops, this is the 2021 thread I just realized, question should still apply)

If we start with the first GP2 season in 2005:

  • 8 champions were promoted to F1 immediately (Rosberg, Hamilton, Glock, Hülkenberg, Maldonado, Grosjean, Leclerc, Russell),
  • 3 were promoted to F1 after skipping one year (Palmer, Vandoorne, Gasly),
  • 4 never made it to F1 (Pantano, Valsecchi, Leimer, de Vries).

Note that the first lot includes Glock and Grosjean, who had made their F1 debut before winning the GP2 title, and the last one includes Pantano who had spent half a season in F1, but didn't return after his GP2 title.



#26 beachdrifter

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Posted 02 December 2020 - 12:56

Thank you so much for these details!   :up:



#27 Sndr

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Posted 02 December 2020 - 13:43

Now we know the format for the three races
Friday as per normal with practice then qualifying
Saturday morning will be sprint race 1 with the top ten from Friday qualifying reversed
Saturday Afternoon is sprint race 2 with the top ten seeing the checked flag from the 1st race reversed
Sunday is the pit stop race and baring grid pens it is the grid that is set on Friday aftrrnoon

 

that sounds unnecessarily convoluted



#28 efuloni

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 20:03

There were some rumours and, now, Formula Scout claims Drugovich will race with Uni-Virtuosi in the post-season test next week. It seems they will go for a Zhou-Drugo pair next year, what makes both of them serious candidates for the tile, IMO link



#29 Anja

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Posted 03 December 2020 - 20:07

Would definitely like to see what Drugovich can do in a better team. MP made good progress lately but not enough to fight for the championship. 



#30 FLB

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Posted 04 December 2020 - 00:30

It's his hair !

He's got a future in advertising beauty products as indicated by him setting off the on-board fire extinguisher hair foam applicator.

 

Jp

He does have quite the volume, doesn't he?

 

Theo-Pourchaire-karting-KZ.jpg



#31 Reynard88D

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Posted 04 December 2020 - 09:13

Would definitely like to see what Drugovich can do in a better team. MP made good progress lately but not enough to fight for the championship. 

 

Would love to see him at UNi-Virtuosi and take it to Prema, he's done an amazing job with MP who i wouldn't say are a top team in F2.

 

He was seriously quick in lower forumula, 7 time winner in ADAC F4 although losing the champ to Vips and Armstrong who scored much less wins. Dominating Euroformula open was good but against not too strong competition, hoped for more last season with Carlin in FIA F3, but clearly Carlin are off the pace in F3 at the mo, although he did outscore Logan Sargent who was also at Carlin.



#32 balage06

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Posted 04 December 2020 - 09:44

Yeah, I'm a Shwartzman fan, but even I think Drugovich was probably the most impressive rookie this year, even if the standings doesn't reflect that properly. I mean, winning a feature race with MP on merit... Before this season, MP had two victories on this level, both of them were sprint race (reverse grid) wins... And okay, Matsushita did the same in Barcelona, but that was a bit of a wacky race.



#33 messy

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Posted 04 December 2020 - 09:56

From the moment Drugovich qualified on the front row on debut in an MP, it's been pretty obvious that he's destined for good stuff. 

 

To be honest he makes me feel like my knowledge is slipping - I'd barely heard of him before 2020 and fully thought he'd be at the back with Samaia and co. 



#34 BobbyRicky

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Posted 04 December 2020 - 10:45

Drugovich has always been pretty decent. That F3-season was a weird one. A driver doesnt just lose his speed like that.



#35 Anja

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Posted 06 December 2020 - 13:33

Drugovich has always been pretty decent. That F3-season was a weird one. A driver doesnt just lose his speed like that.

 

F3 had huge gaps between teams that year for some reason. Really not a good season to judge drivers. 

 

 

Ticktum said that he'll be back in F2 next year with a "good team". Carlin or Virtuosi perhaps? (since I don't see a place for him at Prema, ART, or Hitech)



#36 William Hunt

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Posted 06 December 2020 - 14:36

Drugovich has always been pretty decent. That F3-season was a weird one. A driver doesnt just lose his speed like that.

 

A bit similar to what happened to Yifei Yei last year in F3 and to Dennis Hauger (he's shown in Formula Regional that he hasn't lost his speed) in F3 this year. There is no doubt that Yifei Ye, Hauger or Drugovich are all very talented drivers and that their F3 results don't reflect that at all.

 

Calling Drugovich pre FIA F3 result 'pretty decent' is an understatement, awesome would be a better description. He scored 14 wins out of 16 races in Euroformula Open, 10 wins out of 16 races in MRF challenge and in FIA ADAC Formula 4 he was all year in the title hunt together with Red  Bull's Jüri Vips and Ferrari's Marcus Armstrong. 
Drugovich scored 7 wins in F4 compared to 3 wins for Marcus Armstrong & Lirim Zendelli (4th in the tables) and 2 for Vips. But Drugovich was just (top 3 were very close in terms of points) 3rd in the championship behind Vips & Armstrong, Felipe was the best driver that year imho.

To me it' clear that in FIA F3 drivers are very much dependent on the base set-up of their engineer and with so little practice time there often isn't time to change much on that base set-up (Yifei Ye said that this was the main reason he wasn't so competitive in FIA F3) so top teams like Prema who seem better at getting that base set-up right are more competitive.

 

It seems that Drugovich will drive for Virtuosi next year next to Zhou. I expect Drugovich to challenge for the title, would maybe even write him down as the favourite, he has been extremely impressive this year driving for a small Dutch midfield team. F1 teams should have a look at Felipe.
 

To me Tsunoda & Drugovich impressed me the most, they were both rookies after all, in FIA Formula 2 this year (early season Schwartzman, Lundgaard had a poor end of season, probably by set-up problems at ART).


Edited by William Hunt, 06 December 2020 - 14:59.


#37 efuloni

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Posted 06 December 2020 - 14:51

A bit similar to what happened to Yifei Yei last year in F3 and to Dennis Hauger (he's shown in Formula Regional that he hasn't lost his speed) in F3 this year. There is no doubt that Yifei Ye, Hauger or Drugovich are all very talented drivers and that their F3 results don't reflect that at all.

Calling Drugovich pre FIA F3 result 'pretty decent' is an understatement, awesome would be a better description. He scored 14 wins out of 16 races in Euroformula Open, 10 wins out of 16 races in MRF challenge and in FIA ADAC Formula 4 he was all year in the title hunt together with Red Bull's Jüri Vips and Ferrari's Marcus Armstrong.
Drugovich scored 7 wins in F4 compared to 3 wins for Marcus Armstrong & Lirim Zendelli (4th in the tables) and 2 for Vips. But Drugovich was just (top 3 were very close in terms of points) 3rd in the championship behind VIps & Armstrong.

To me it' clear that in FIA F3 drivers are very much dependent on the base set-up of their engineer and with so little practice time there often is'nt time to change much on that base set-up so top teams like Prema who seem better at getting that base set-up right are more competitive.

It seems that Drugovich will drive for Virtuosi next year next to Zhou. I expect Drugovich to challenge for the title, would maybe even write him down as the favourite, he has been extremely impressive this year driving for a small Dutch midfield team. F1 teams should have a look at Felipe.

To me Tsunoda & Drugovich impressed me the most, they were both rookies after all, in FIA Formula 2 this year (early season Schwartzman, Lundgaard had a poor end of season, probably by set-up problems at ART).


Drugo is, indeed, very impressive.
However, in order to be really outstanding, he needs to improve his overtaking skills. Through the ladder he has always being a fantastic qualifier and capable of running away in the front, but not so great when dealing with traffic and defending. Thats one of the reasons he had 4 podiums and 3 of them were wins.
.
Also, his starts were usually very poor this year. So, if he improves those areas, I believe he is F1 material and could have a very nice carreer.

#38 Bleu

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 08:24

I feel that teams having three cars in F3 compared to two cars in F2 gives more value for the team in the former.



#39 balage06

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 09:30

Not surprisingly, Shwartzman stays with Prema.

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#40 thegamer23

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 09:35

My bet for the 2021 title is Drugovic



#41 messy

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 10:02

Drugovich at Virtuosi vs Shwartzman at Prema already has the look of a title battle, although who can tell? I thought this season would be Zhou vs Shwartzman at the start. Didn't really see Ilott coming, or Schumacher after his weak 2019. 



#42 Anja

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 10:07

I would add Lundgaard to those two and have a hard time seeing anyone else win this. 


Edited by Anja, 07 December 2020 - 10:08.


#43 ANF

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 10:11

I'll add Lawson.

#44 Gambelli

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 10:12

Because the F3 weekend format is a joke, reverse grids make some drivers stand out and look better than others. Meanwhile Piastri was the most consistent even though he had more mechanical problems than everyone else around him. Then you have guys like Lawson constantly finishing around 10th in the first race which then makes him look good for race 2.

 

So far from true about Lawson it's not funny......



#45 Gambelli

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 10:20

Vips vs Lawson at Hitech if that comes together, will be great to watch.  I rate Lawson highly, though losing in his own backyard to Fraga wasn't great, but he finished more races ahead but the points margins are so tight in that series that his one mechanical DNF meant he could never recover lost ground, but both showed Tsunoda a clean pair of heels the whole championship.

 

Anyway, nowhere to hide for Liam, if he's as good as i think he is, he needs to be a match for Vips from the get go.....

 

Very, very strong field coming in for F2 next year, it's going to be awesome.... not often that the reigning F3 champ, taking over the reigning F2 champ's seat, isn't even mentioned in championship talk, such is the expected depth of the field...

 

Edit: PS - C'mon Campos, stick Peroni in the car.......


Edited by Gambelli, 07 December 2020 - 10:20.


#46 Muppetmad

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 10:24

Yeah, we have a quite exceptional field forming for next year. I look forward to it greatly!



#47 balage06

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 12:02

Drugovich at Virtuosi also confirmed. Sounds like the combo to beat? We'll see.

#48 Frood

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 12:02

I'll add Lawson.


If you add Lawson, I'll add Pourchaire. Providing he's not in the HWA.

#49 Anja

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 12:50

If you add Lawson, I'll add Pourchaire. Providing he's not in the HWA.

 

I'd expect he'll be in ART next to Lundgaard. 



#50 balage06

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 12:55

I'd expect he'll be in ART next to Lundgaard.

I agree, also wonder where Armstrong might end up. Maybe he'll inherit Ilott's seat?