More than half a dozen potential race winners will be on the grid for the opening two races for the Historic Formula 2 Championship when the season starts at Hockenheim over the weekend of 16/17 April.

A highly encouraging 20-car field will gather at the German Grand Prix venue for the double-header within the Hockenheim Historic in memory of Jim Clark.

The championship, managed by the UK-based Historic Sports Car Club, is open to cars built to period regulations for Formula 2, Formula Atlantic and Formula B, starting from 1967 and running right through to the end of the 1978 season. Later cars, designed to employ ground effect technology, are not permitted.

Heading the field will be 2010 race winners Matthew Watts (March 772), 2009 champion Martin Stretton (March 742) and Hans Peter (Ralt RT1). This trio won nine of the 12 races last season, with Watts winning four times including both Hockenheim races. That should make the Gloucestershire racer pre-event favourite in his ex-Norman Dickson car, but Stretton in particular is a hard-charging racer.

However, a gaggle of quick racers will be aiming to add their name to the F2 list of race winners and experienced historic racers Richard Eyre (March 782) and Peter Wuensch (Ralt RT1) look like podium candidates, as does Swedish racer and former champion Bo Warmenius (March 772) Brazilian Abba Kogan (March 782) and British racer David Gathercole (Chevron B25). One of the oldest cars in the 2-litre class is the March 722 of Darwin Smith, but the very rapid Irish racer will surely take the fight to the newer cars. Meanwhile, sports car racer Steve Tandy will make a single-seater debut with his Chevron B40.

The class for 1600cc Formula Atlantic promises to be hard fought and is headed by former Grand Prix racer Ian Ashley in the March 79B of Mike Smith. His opponents include former Caterham racer Philip Gladman (Chevron B34) and Roland Wiltschegg (Chevron B39).

Among the 1600cc Formula 2 cars, the March 712s of Walter Nef and Diogo Ferrao take on the ex-Fittipaldi Lotus 69 of Roger Bevan and the oldest car in the race, the 1969 Brabham BT30 of David Brown.

In 2010, more than 40 cars contested Historic F2 races and that number is set to be topped this season, with a field of 30 cars expected for rounds three and four at Donington Park on 30 April/1 May.

The 2011 Historic Formula 2 schedule is:

15-17 April                   Hockenheim Historic, Germany

30 April/1 May         Donington Historic Festival, GB

3-5 June                  Monza Coppa Europa, Italy

1-3 July                   Brands Hatch Super Prix. GB

1-3 September          Zolder 24 Hour Race Meeting, Belgium

30 Sept-2 October          Dijon Trophees de Bourgogne, France