Joel Eriksson revealed that he skipped his school graduation to race at the Hungaroring last weekend, but the Swede was delighted to leave Hungary still at the head of the championship standings after a superb victory on Sunday afternoon.
The Motopark driver’s weekend started badly with a poor qualifying performance, not just for himself but the whole team after struggling in the wet session, but from the back row of the grid he was able to recover to finish tenth and secure a valuable point.
His second qualifying session and his Sunday races were much better, with Eriksson securing second to Callum Ilott in race two, before leading away from pole position to secure his fourth victory of the year in race three.
”I’m thrilled with the way we managed to turn this weekend around,” said Eriksson. ”The win was very emotional for me, especially because I was supposed to graduate from school on Friday but had to skip that – celebrating it from the top step of the podium was the best it could get!
“I’m proud of the team and the way we fought back after that first qualifying session. To cap this weekend off with pole, victory and fastest lap really proves how strong we are at the moment.”
Eriksson is the only driver in 2017 to have won at every venue so far, and as a result he heads into the Norisring weekend at the beginning of July five points clear of Maximilian Günther in the championship standings.
