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Hancock to fill Surtees' F2 slot

Reigning British Formula Renault BARC champion Ollie Hancock has signed up for the final three rounds of the FIA F2 championship

The 20-year-old has taken the entry slot of Henry Surtees, who was killed in an accident in last month's Brands Hatch round of the championship, although Hancock will be racing a different car.

Originally, Hancock had hoped to start the season in F2, but was unable to raise the funding to secure one of the 25 available grid slots.

"Obviously the circumstances behind a slot being available are terrible but all I can do is give it my best and try to show the kind of battling performances that Henry did during his time in F2," Hancock told AUTOSPORT.

"I was working towards F2 over the winter, but that didn't come off, so I was looking to get on the grid in 2010 before this opportunity arose."

Hancock will contest the final three rounds of the championship, making his debut at Oschersleben in September.

He is scheduled to have a brief run in the car at series boss Jonathan Palmer's Bedford Autodrome next Wednesday to familiarise himself with the systems, but will have to wait until Oschersleben for his first proper test.

"It's always difficult to jump into any series mid-season and fight with people who have been doing it all year," said Hancock. "But the cars are all even, so it's just a question of understanding the car as quickly as possible.

"The other way to look at it is that it's great preparation for next year that will hopefully put me in a good position to fight for the championship.

"I was at Donington for the last round and was impressed, so it made it a very easy decision to try and raise the funding to join for the rest of the season."

Hancock, the younger brother of former F3000 racer Sam Hancock, has raced in Formula Renault since 2007, and contested a part-season in the UK championship this year.

Series boss Jonathan Palmer said: "Ollie will be running a new car, not the Henry Surtees one, but using the 25th operational space."

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