Red Bull Junior Team driver Dan Ticktum wins the 2017 FIA Formula 3 World Cup for Team Motopark with a sensational win in Macau.
Dan earned victory following an incredible slipstreaming duel and overtaking move into the Lisboa corner to get past both Lando Norris and Maximilian Gunther, moving him up from fifth position to third in the penultimate lap of the race.
Then when the top two leaders both crashed at the final corner of the race, the 18-year-old Briton used his racing skills to avoid the incident and ultimately crossed the finish line in first position, claiming the prestigious win in only his third-ever race meeting in a Formula 3 car.
Speaking about the race, Dan said: “Some people might say that the win is a bit lucky but I’ve got to say that I deserved it because of my pace throughout the weekend. Then there was that overtake, that was the move that did it for me.”
Until the race, the cards had fallen against the Team Motopark driver who was robbed of a great grid position when the second qualifying session was red flagged while he was on a very quick lap leaving him 6th on the grid for the qualifying race. From there he started picking off places only to have the tyres go away from him and he slipped back to eighth but recorded the fastest lap of the race.
Dan Ticktum: “The start in the qualifying race was pretty poor, I’d only done a couple of practice starts. In the final, I did a bit better, not great but I held onto my place. There were a couple of full course yellows and restarts and I took opportunities where I could but there weren’t many.
“I got up to fifth position but coming to the end of the race, I knew that I was going to have to do something special if I was going to get a decent result. I was watching Lando as he was going after Max and just put myself in the position to make something of it if I could. I’m pretty sure I did a similar move last year and I knew what it would take.
“I’m pretty confident on the brakes and I have a marker for where my last place to brake is and I kept that in the peripheral as I went alongside. I braked, if I’d had to go any deeper I would have been in trouble but it was enough.
“I thought, OK, the podium is not bad but then I couldn’t believe the last corner, one into the wall going in and then as I came out there was another, I just couldn’t believe it as I crossed the line, what a race.
“It’s been an incredible event, a great race, great people and I have to thank everyone who gave me this opportunity, everyone including my dad, Dr Marko and the Motopark team who did a fantastic job of adapting the car after the qualifying race which wasn’t disastrous but we needed a better car for today and the guys produced it.”
Dan will conclude his 2018 season in the final GP3 race of the year at the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi from 24 – 26 November.
Download high resolution imagery here.
Qualifying: 6th
Qualifying Race Grid: 6th – Result: 8th
Macau Grand Prix Grid: 8th – Result: 1st