#27 Dan Ticktum (GBR – Motopark Dallara Volkswagen)
Qualifying 1 (Group A): 1st – Race 1 Grid: 4th – Race 1 Result: 4th
Qualifying 2 (Group B): 3rd – Race 2 Grid: 5th – Race 2 Result: DNF (incident)
Qualifying 2nd time (Group B): 2nd – Race 3 Grid: 3rd – Race 3 Result: 1st
FIA F3 European Championship position: 2nd – 100 points – after 9 of 30 races
Stunningly quick in his Norisring debut, Dan Ticktum had to wait for Race 3 of the FIA F3 weekend to claim the victory that seemed so likely right from Friday. The 19-year-old British Red Bull Junior was quickest in Free Practice, then topped his qualifying group in the wet on Friday evening only to be penalised for a curious confusion over pit lane exit signals.
Stuck where he started in Race 1 he finished fourth on Saturday morning and then qualified fifth and third respectively for Sunday’s two races. A major start line smash put the Motopark driver out of Race 2 but after a medical check he bounced back to score a superb win in the final race of the day. Those twenty-five points mean that he leaves Germany just a single point off the overall championship lead.
It´s all about winning
“What an incredible weekend,” exclaimed Ticktum. “At least we finished with a win and that is what we came for. It doesn’t get much more up and down than that.”
“Just today, from spending two hours in the hospital this morning to winning this afternoon, just incredible. The guys did an amazing job to rebuild the car after that huge smash at the start, just a fantastic effort and the car was good enough to win, it was wrecked this morning and they rebuilt it.”
“The whole weekend has been a rollercoaster, we had pace from the start, we´ve always got pace and then in qualifying in the wet I was top of my group but then I got a rather ridiculous penalty for going through a red light at the end of the pit lane even though 2 marshals were waving me through!! Three other drivers also received this penalty.”
It might have been more
“So in a way it is a bit of a ‘what if´ because we should have had a better grid position and at least a podium from Race 1 but so much happened today that I’d forgotten about that. The main thing is that I might not have been walking after what happened this morning but I got away with a bad headache and an achy neck,” explained Ticktum referring to his stalling on the line and being hit from behind by Ameya Vaidyanathan.
Starting from P3 for Race 3, Ticktum was quick to shake off the effects of the impact. “I got past Jüri (Jüri Vips) pretty quickly then there was a whole lot of boring Safety Car laps but I eventually got the chance to have a go for P1 and made it stick, just a brilliant end to the weekend. We had a great photo done with the team who worked so hard including some of the damaged bits and now I’m celebrating with a Ryanair flight, that´s what it like until you are in F1,” he concluded with his broad smile.
Source: Red Bull Junior Team – https://win.gs/2luZRpv