Daniel Ticktum became the first rookie to take a race victory in 2017 as the Red Bull Junior secured top step on the podium in the opening race of the weekend at the Hungaroring on Saturday.
The Briton, who’s victory was also the first for Arden Motorsport in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Series, admitted he was delighted to secure the win in what is traditionally competitive championship and one that rookies find difficult to win in.
“A very good weekend,” said Ticktum. “I had my chances and took them. The win was the big thing of course but the points in the other two races were also very good.
“This is a very competitive series and not too many people score a win in their first year so that is fantastic and I couldn’t be happier.”
Ticktum’s weekend started off with a superb qualifying performance on a wet track on Saturday morning, but even when the track dried he was able to maintain his position at the front of the field, claiming victory by just under a second from championship contender Sacha Fenestraz.
He followed his win with a ninth place finish in race two, before concluding his weekend with a seventh place in race three, meaning the Briton sits sixth in the championship standings, now as the leading rookie in the field.
“It was a wet first qualifying and I love the wet, it’s all about the driver and so I could put it on pole,” said Ticktum. “I’m improving every time I go out, we’ve got a bit of work still to do with the dry qualifying and that’s what we’ll be concentrating on but it was a great weekend.
“I loved the last race, went round the outside of two cars at the first corner and inside another at turn two, that was a lot of fun and brought us some good points.
“For sure we can still improve and we are going to do that.”
