Daniel Ricciardo was on the pace as Formula Renault 3.5 testing got underway this week, with a strong performance at the Circuit de Catalunya circuit in Barcelona. The Perth born racer was amongst the front runners in every session to set the second fastest time overall.
Taking part in his first official test since dominating the F1 Young driver tests in December, Ricciardo made a strong start with his Tech 1 team in Barcelona. As the teams took to the track wet conditions called for grooved tyres, but as the test continued a dry line allowed for a change to slicks. By the end of the morning session Ricciardo lay in an encouraging 10th place.
Dry conditions on Thursday afternoon provided ideal conditions with the majority of drivers switching to new rubber early on. A hot lap put Ricciardo top of the time sheets part way through the afternoon. Returning to the track in the final part of the session Ricciardo was pushing hard and despite several red flag had moved up to 3rd by the end of the day.
Following torrential rain which severely disrupted the running on Friday morning, the track finally began to dry out as the times dropped. Ricciardo demonstrated promising pace as conditions improved, posting the quickest time of the two day test. Ricciardo’s time was unbeaten for the majority of the afternoon, until a final flurry of activity saw Ricciardo relegated to second quickest.
Reflecting on the first official test of the season, Ricciardo said, “We had a really promising test. We tried many different things with the car set up on the second day of testing which have provided a really good base to work on at the next test. I’m still learning about the Formula Renault 3.5 cars but I’m feeling more comfortable with ever session. I’m really pleased with our progress.”
British F3 champion Daniel Ricciardo has been appointed official reserve driver for both Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 teams in 2010. The 20 year-old Perth born racer will share the duties on a race-by-race basis with fellow Red Bull junior team member Brendon Hartley.
The appointment to the position of reserve driver is the latest accolade for the young Australian racer who impressed the F1 fraternity during the F1 Young Driver tests at the end of last year. Daniel was the only driver to be granted three full days behind the wheel and finished the test as the quickest driver by a sizeable margin.
Daniel has made a name for himself racing in Europe, having been made a Red Bull Junior at the end of 2007. In 2008 Daniel moved to the intensely competitive Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup where he led the championship for the majority of the season, only to lose out on the title by just three points. A move up to British Formula 3 in 2009 saw Daniel rise to the top again, with a dominating performance that saw him take the title at the penultimate round.
Speaking about his new appointment as reserve driver, Daniel said, “It’s so exciting and a real honour to be asked to take up this role in 2010. I’ve been hoping since the F1 test in December to get this news, so I’m absolutely delighted.
“It’s going to be a busy year with my commitments in Formula Renault 3.5 and now with the reserve driver role, but it’s a fantastic opportunity to spend time with the race drivers and get a real insight into F1.”
Daniel, it’s been a busy time since the last F3 race. It must seem like a long time ago now! Have you had a chance to have much time off?
To be honest since the British season finished I’ve been twice as busy. With Macau and the F1 test been thrown in there it was a busy month for me but one of the most enjoyable ones I’ve ever had.
What was it like to get your hands on the trophy at the Awards Presentation the other night?
It was the biggest trophy I’ve ever received! A great feeling to have it in my hands and that’s when I knew that all the hard work myself and the team put in this year had paid off.
The Macau Grand Prix didn’t quite go as planned. How was the race meeting for you generally?
The whole week and build up in Macau was great and despite the final result, I was very pleased with how it went and I showed great potential in my first year there and it seemed to have impressed a lot of people in the paddock. The race was one of those things and it’s what you get when that amount of cars are trying to get through a corner. But I know that I was in the wrong place and should have tried to get to the inside. Just some inexperience from myself in that situation but I will learn from it. All in all a great weekend though and I really would love to be back next year.
What is the Formula Renault 3.5 like to drive compared to the F3 car?
Firstly it’s a much bigger car in size. This makes it physically more difficult. The power is greater as well so it’s a bit more difficult to drive around the tighter circuits. When I tested the 3.5 in Barcelona I really enjoyed it and this type of circuit worked very well with the car and I will have a great time driving it throughout next year.
How did you find the Red Bull F1 car to drive? What’s the hardest thing to get used to compared to other racing cars?
It was an absolute blast. The car is a wild thing but at the same time it does everything you want it to. The hardest thing was adjusting your vision and brain to register information at that sort of speed. Everything comes at you so fast it’s like nothing the body has ever experienced so it’s a big shock to the system. And to top that off there are about 50 different settings on the steering wheel which the engineers want you to adjust while driving at these speeds. This was difficult but after the first day I got my head around it and the following two days flowed much better.
Has it whetted your appetite for more F1 drives now?
Indeed! The three days were just a taste and I want more now. I am talking with Red Bull F1 and hopefully we can come to a decision over Christmas for a test drive position next year. This would be a great start.
The Formula Renault 3.5 cars will be racing at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2010. You must be looking forward to that experience?
Monaco is one of those places that you admire and as a race its one every driver wants to do. I am looking forward to going there and hopefully I can show some more street circuit potential. It will be a big event and just to race in front of that crowd will be a sweet deal.
What’s your programme for the ‘off season’ now? Where will you be spending Christmas?
I returned home to Perth yesterday so this is where I’ll be spending Christmas, with my family and friends who I've missed a lot this year. Just going to have some time away from racing and enjoy summer and the god things that come with it. It’s nice to put your feet up at the end of the season. I think it’s important to switch off the mind for a bit otherwise you go crazy always thinking about your job. It’s the way I see it and it works for me :)
Any last messages for the year?
"I would like to thank everyone who has supported me and followed my progress through 2009 - it's been a fantastic year all round and a great step up the ladder towards my goal of Formula 1. I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year where ever you are. Roll on 2010!”
For the past three days Red Bull Junior Team driver and 2009 British International F3 Championship winner Daniel Ricciardo has been putting in some impressive times at the Jerez circuit in Spain in the “Young Driver Test” where 9 of the current Formula 1 teams are trying out the F1 stars of tomorrow.
Day 1 saw Daniel complete 113 laps in the Red Bull RB5-02 (the most of any driver on the day) with a best time of 1:19.534, forth fastest overall behind Formula 2 championship winner Andy Soucek in a Williams (1:19.158).
The day didn’t start as well as it could have, as Ricciardo had a spin on cold tyres and ended up in a gravel trap, neatly avoiding the damaged Toro Rosso of New Zealander Brendon Hartley who had collected the wall and damaged his car. Once that was sorted out, he settled down to some regular running, building up speed and confidence in the Red Bull RB05.
Daniel: ”I don’t think I stopped smiling all day,” he said after the session was over. “Working with the team was great and they let me go at my own pace until I built up some confidence. After that, we began working on things that will be useful for next season. This was the first time I’ve ever driven a Formula One car round corners, having previously only done a straight line test and I have to say, it’s got more grip than anything else I’ve ever driven.”
Dealing with the physical aspects of driving an F1 car is a big part of the challenge and Daniel came through day 1 with flying (Red Bull) colours!
After the first day Daniel did a Q&A session with reporters. Here is a link to the Autosport story by Jamie O’Leary with more details: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80399
Day 2 of the test was interrupted by light rain in mid afternoon which slowed times down somewhat. Daniel only ran 92 laps (!) for a best time of 1:19.243 which ended up third quickest for the day behind German Touring Car Championship driver Gary Paffett in a McLaren on 1:18.718, set just before the rain fell and knocking Daniel off the top of the timing sheets for the first time for the day. Nico Hulkenburg was second fastest in a Williams, less than .1 of a second ahead of Ricciardo in the Red Bull RB05.
Daniel’s Day 2 programme consisted mainly of continuing the learning process of driving the car and getting used to all the systems that are unique to F1 cars. He also conducted various tests on aero and braking items and ran with the car in ‘heavy’ configuration to simulate running for 2010 when refueling will be banned and the cars have to start a Grand Prix with 155kg of fuel on board.
“I found it a bit easier today,” said Daniel. “I knew what to expect this morning and the procedures were easier to understand, so I was able to concentrate on improving my driving and hopefully give my best in terms of providing the engineers with good feedback.”
Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner was on hand to witness Daniel’s performance and explained what the team was looking for over the three days of the test: “One of the reasons we’ve elected to run the same driver for three days is because some our work at this test is focused on next year, so it’s good to have continuity. Rather than chopping and changing we wanted to run the same driver over three days to have a consistency of feedback. It’s the only test between now and next February which makes it very, very important.”
Horner was also very positive about Daniel’s performance for the team: “He’s had a very good first day: his times were competitive, his feedback was good and he had a good level of fitness, so it’s a good start into a Formula One career. And this is more than about just speed. It’s about being a complete package. Speed; fitness; feedback; intelligence; feel. They’re all factors and they’re all part of what we’re evaluating.”
Day 3 – the final day of the “Young Drivers” test saw Daniel complete 77 laps and blitzed the field with a fastest time of 1:17.418, over 1.3 seconds faster than the next driver! His final part of the test was curtailed however when a large cloud of smoke issued from the back of the car, bringing his running to a halt.
Daniel: "I had an amazing time over the three days spent in the F1 car and it was a pleasure for me each time I left the pits. Day 3 was special and I got the chance to get the real potential out of the car and myself with a 'qualification run' on low fuel and super soft tyres. I thought the grip was impressive over the last two days but this was something else. The corner speeds and braking deceleration I was experiencing in the car was something I have never come close to experiencing before. I loved it and did a respectable job. It’s where I want to be in the near future. "
2010 will see Daniel racing for the Tech1 team in Formula Renault 3.5 alongside Kiwi Brendan Hartley and hopefully acting as the Test and Reserve driver for the Red Bull F1 team.
The Formula Renault 3.5 series is for Dallara built carbon-fibre chassis powered by a competition prepared version of the Nissan VQ35 3.5l V6 engine that produces 425hp in a car that weighs only 600 kg. The Championship will consist of 9 races throughout Europe, with a special bonus of the cars competing as a support race at the Monaco Grand Prix!
Daniel is now back home in Australia taking a well earned break and catching up with family and friends and looking forward to enjoying a warm Christmas!
"I would like to thank everyone who has supported me and followed my progress through 2009 - it's been a fantastic year all round and a great step up the ladder towards my goal of Formula 1. I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year where ever you are!"
The latest running of the famous Macau Grand Prix for Formula 3 cars unfortunately didn't see a flying result for the Red Bull Junior Team driver Daniel Ricciardo and his Carlin Motorsport VW powered Dallara.
After a stunning debut effort on the tricky 3.8 mile (6.2km) Guia street circuit, Ricciardo lined up in 5th place for the qualification race after making it as high as 2nd earlier in the session, behind Marcus Ericsson in the TOMS Toyota powered Dallara. A brush with the barriers at the Lisboa corner stopped him from improving his lap time.
The running of the Qualification race on Saturday was interrupted by yellow flags due to various incidents, but Daniel kept his nose clean to finish up 6th overall as the race finished behind the safety car
Sunday saw the main running of the Macau Grand Prix over a total of 15 laps.
After a strong start, he was pushed wide and brushed the tyre barrier, which damaged one of his tyres, causing him to go off at the next corner.
Daniel: "I had a good start, I was already up to P4, P5, when I was pushed wide. As a result, I touched the tyre barriers, which damaged one of my tyres. One turn later, I lost the car and crashed because of it. I'm very disappointed, of course. Then again I'm very pleased about the whole experience - furthermore I always was among the front runners in the practice sessions."
The race was won by Italian GP2 driver Edoardo Mortara in another VW powered F3 Dallara from third on the grid after a race-long battle with his team mate Jean-Karl Vernay.
Daniel is now returning to Europe to get ready for his long awaited test with the Red Bull Formula 1 Team at the Jerez circuit on the 1st to the 3rd of December.
This weekend sees the 56th running of one of the premier events in the world Formula 3 calendar, the Macau Grand Prix.
Held each year on the Guia street circuit in the formerly Portuguese enclave of Macau on the coast of China, the Macau Grand Prix has a long history of spectacular racing action and has seen some of the most famous names in the sport take part.
Past winners have included Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, Ayrton Senna and David Brabham. Sixteen of the drivers in the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship have also competed in the Macau Grand Prix in the past. It is truly a jewel in the crown of the Formula 3 category across the world.
The Guia street circuit is a tricky 3.8 mile (6.2km) combination of narrow and windy roads through the hilly section of the town, followed by a flat out blast along the harbor front.
Of course the 2009 British International Formula 3 Series Champion, Daniel Ricciardo wanted to take part and in the first qualifying session held on Thursday, he put in an impressive time to end up provisionally second on the grid in his Red Bull Carlin Motorsport VW-Dallara, less than 0.04 of a second behind Marcus Ericsson in a TOMS Toyota powered Dallara. The TOMS team has won the past two Macau GPs and are recognised as the people to beat at Macau, so to be so close to them in initial running is impressive!
Daniel ”We’re really happy with the way the day has gone. We’ve surpassed our expectations for the weekend on the first day!”
There is further practice and qualifying to be held on Friday, with an extra qualification race on Saturday for those who don’t make it through to the initial grid on lap times. Sunday afternoon sees the running of the 15 lap Macau Grand Prix.
In other news, Daniel has been busy since the last race the British Formula 3 Series back in September. In recent times he has been testing a Formula Renault 3.5 car at the Barcelona Circuit in Spain and topped the times in the Tech 1 Racing car, over half a second quicker than his nearest rival!
The other important news is that the Red Bull Formula 1 Team has confirmed that Daniel will be taking part in their official test at the Jerez circuit on the 1st to the 3rd of December.
Daniel “I had suspected a possible run in the F1 car before Christmas, so since the F3 season finished I have been amping up my training program and adding in more strength and neck related exercises. I have been busy in and out of the Red Bull F1 factory making a seat and spending time on the simulator, so everyone is working hard to make the test as best as it can possibly be for me. I am ecstatic to finally have a go in one of these works of art. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a boy and I can’t quite believe I'm going to fulfil it in a few weeks time. And for it to be with the strongest finishing team of the season makes it even more special. Red Bull have been very supportive and are giving me good encouragement and laying out the foundations for me so that I’m not going to feel under any serious pressure. I’m going to have as much fun as I can and I hope I can be going fast at the same time.”
Daniel, It’s been a big year for you, with your greatest result since you started climbing the ladder of world motorsport. Thanks for taking time out to talk to us.
How does it feel to be 2009 British International Formula 3 Champion? Has it sunk in yet? Have the parties started? It feels bloody awesome. It did take all night to sink in but now it definitely feels real and I am very satisfied. The first thing was probably relief because I had put so much pressure on myself from the start of the season to win the title. The moment I was told this is where I would be for this year, my sights were set on the championship. Nothing less. Red Bull's expectations were for me to win also, end of story. We celebrated a little on Sunday night after the finale but to be honest I was back in the gym on Monday preparing for whatever Red Bull will put ahead of me next.
What do you think was your main advantage over the season? I learnt a lot from last season and being in a similar situation of fighting for a championship. When things were going well I made the most of it and capitalised. When things were down and not going to plan, we salvaged as much as we could as a team and moved on immediately..... And of course I had to drive faster than anybody else!
Which races did you enjoy the most? I really enjoyed round two at Silverstone where I hunted my teammate for the majority of the race, until he cracked and I made the winning move. My victory at Brands Hatch was also very satisfying. It was my most commanding performance of the season. Everything gelled and I was in the zone just wanting to go faster and faster.
How much did the competition between VW and Mercedes-Benz help you? I think we were the underdogs coming into the season with the VW engines. Mercedes has dominated for many years and some people saw it as a risky move by my team. VW were very committed from the beginning and my engine never let me down. Our relationship grew stronger as the season progressed and in the end it was a winning combination.
All your family and friends back in Australia must be really happy for you. When will you be back in Perth to catch up with them? The support I’ve had from all my mates back home and family has been amazing. The amount of phone calls, texts, emails I received was unreal... I’m lucky to have friends and family like these and I hope come December I will be back home celebrating with them all.
The Carlin Motorsport Team and Red Bull must be really pleased too. Any feedback from them so far? Carlin were overjoyed to retain the title and see me pull it off with a round left in hand. The team was very supportive of my victory and the atmosphere amongst us was great. Red Bull were also very pleased. And relieved. They always want to keep me on my toes so they don’t show too much emotion but I’m sure they were just as happy as me.
It must have been great to get extra support from previous Aussie F3 Champion David Brabham at Brands Hatch. Do things like that help? It was really nice to see David there at the circuit and he gave me some words of advice before the race which does give me a boost. For him to come out and support us young guys is a great thing. 20 years ago this was him in my position so he is someone I can relate to quite well.
What are your plans for the rest of the year? Are you racing at Macau in November? As for the rest of the year I will be doing testing in preparation for next season and I will also take part in the famous end of year race at Macau. It shall be an amazing experience. Every driver who has raced there describes it as the best place on earth for a Formula 3 car.
Any news for your possible F1 test later this year and where you might be in 2010? No news as yet. I’m sort of expecting to get the F1 test at the end of the year now that I have won the championship, but I won’t get too excited until I get confirmation. As for next year I haven’t been told my plans yet.
Anyone you want to send a special thanks or message to? Just everyone who has supported me along the way and shown interest. I love the support back home and this is very meaningful to me. I would love to thank all my sponsors back home in Perth. Aroma Cafe, Sunseeker Australia, Northside Rentals, United Industries, Mt Magnet Drilling, Swanline Developments, Barbagallo, Buildwise, Silver Swan Group. They are real supporters and enthusiasts and I'm grateful to have these guys on board. And Red Bull of course! Let the journey continue...
Thanks for this special interview for your website and congratulations once again!
2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series Champion, Daniel Ricciardo has completed a lap of honour at the final round of the Series at the Brands Hatch circuit south of London today.
There were two races held today at the historic Kent circuit, rounds 19 and 20 of the Series. Daniel started the weekend well, with fastest time in free practice on Friday, ending the day six-tenths of a second faster than his nearest rival, Daisuke Nakajima from Raikkonen Robertson Motorsport. His best time of 1.17.259 seconds was well inside the lap record set by last year’s champion and current Toro Rosso F1 driver, Jamie Alguersuari.
Saturday’s qualifying sessions were held in dry and overcast conditions and once again Ricciardo showed his excellent form by taking his fifth and sixth pole positions to head the field for both races. In the first session he finished ahead of Carlin Motorsport team mate Max Chilton by three-tenths of a second, clocking a best time of 1.17 207. It wasn’t quite on his target of a 1.16 time, but close!
In the second session (qualifying for Round 20 – the final race), Daniel once again topped the timesheets, closer again to the 1.16 target time with a best time of 1.17.151. Team mate Max Chilton was much closer, clocking a 1.17.196, with these two drivers being over 0.6 of a second ahead of the third placed car.
Ricciardo: "It was a quicker time than this morning, but still not as quick as I'd hoped. But I and Max have a good gap to the rest, so that's encouraging. My aim tomorrow is to end the season with two race wins. We'll be giving it a good go and we'll see what happens”
Sunday saw a record setting performance from Daniel in the VW powered Red Bull Dallara. On the way to a dominant win in the first race (round 19) he led from the lights to the flag, lowered the lap record twice along the way and set the biggest winning margin of the year!
Before the race Daniel was boosted by a visit from the last Australian winner of the British F3 Series, David Brabham who congratulated him on his success to date.
Ricciardo: "From the start I just got away and focused on my job and didn't have to worry once about what was going on behind me. Carlin prepared an amazing car which was suited just perfectly to the conditions, which made my job quite easy. David Brabham wished me all the best and congratulated me on the title win; it's great to see him here supporting us young kids."
Race 2 of the day (round 20 of the Series) produced another good result for Daniel’s Carlin Motorsport team, but unfortunately for Daniel it was a win for team mate Max Chilton, his second win of the year and the ninth for the Carlin team in 2009.
Daniel was caught out by the sloping grid at Brands Hatch and got too much wheel spin, which dropped him down to 4th place. Despite a safety car period, the main results were settled at the start and the front four of Chilton, Riki Christodoulou (Fortec Dallara Mercedes), Marcus Ericsson (Raikkonen Robertson Dallara Mercedes) and Daniel cleared away from the rest of the pack to finish in a group covered by less than four seconds and over 10 seconds clear of the next placed driver.
Daniel and his team finished the season in a dominant style, virtually matching the result from the opening round at Oulton Park back in April. The final scores saw him amass a total of 275 points, 87 points clear of his nearest rival, Walter Grubmüller, who faded in the last two rounds of the Championship as his chances faded. It was also a great debut result in the British Series for the VW engine, ending many years of Mercedes-Benz engine dominance.
Now we look ahead to the 2010 season for Daniel as he looks to fresh challenges on his way to the top of world motorsport!
Red Bull Junior Team driver Daniel Ricciardo has won the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series!
There were two races held today at the new Portimao Circuit in the Algarve in Portugal – rounds 17 and 18 of the Championship.
Daniel finished round 17 in 3rd overall on the track to put one hand on the trophy. His main rival for the day, Dutchman Renger van der Zande led the race for 12 of the 16 laps, but fell victim to a deflating rear tyre and was pipped on the line by Ricciardo with a margin of only 0.009 seconds! First and second places were taken by two drivers from the French series, Jules Bianchi & Esteban Gutierrez who were not eligible for points. Ricciardo’s nearest title rival, Walter Grubmuller had a poor race and finished down in 12th position.
Round 18 was a more chaotic even for Daniel and his Carlin Motorsport team mate, Max Chilton. They started from the front row, but were jumped by Invitation class runner Sam Bird. Ricciardo then battled with Jules Bianchi, but following contact between his Red Bull VW powered car and the Mercedes powered Bianchi, Daniel’s front wing was damaged which slowed his pace. Daniel eventually crossed the line in 7th place on the road, but 4th in the Championship results, which leaves him with an unbeatable lead for the last event next week at Brands Hatch!
His team mate, Max Chilton eventually finished the race 3rd on the road and first of the British Series runners, giving him his debut ‘victory’ in the series and making it a great day all round for the Red Bull supported Carlin Motorsport team!
It’s been a stunning rookie season in the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series for the 20 year old West Australian. He has led the Series since the first race back at Oulton Park in April. Daniel joins an exclusive group of Australian winners of the British F3 Series, Tim Schenken in 1968 and David Brabham in 1989, who coincidentally was the last British F3 winner to be Volkswagen powered. Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo has won the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series!
Over the 2009 season Daniel has won 6 of the 18 races held and been on the podium 11 times. He now has an unassailable 63 point lead in the Series.
Daniel: “This is everything I've wanted since the start of the season and for it to come around a bit early makes it a bit sweeter. It still hasn't quite sunk in but I'm sure that by the end of tonight I'll realise it and party hard. If I can now follow in Jaime Alguersuari's footsteps that would be great - I'm not saying I'll be in F1 next year, but I'd like to be there in the near future. That's my dream.”
More details to follow when Daniel stops celebrating!
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo could take out the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series with strong results in this weekend’s races at the new Portimao Circuit in the Algarve in Portugal.
Following a four week summer break, Daniel and his Red Bull Carlin Motorsport Team take a 45 point Championship lead into the two races and with a potential total of 84 points available over the last four races in the series, he is in a very strong position overall.
To help his cause, Ricciardo today (Friday) set the fastest overall time on the 4.692 km (2.915 mile) circuit of 1.39.13, nearly 0.3 of a second faster than his nearest rival, invitation class runner Valtteri Bottas of Finland, who is not competing for the Championship this weekend, as he usually races in the French series.
Ricciardo’s main title rival, Walter Grubmüller could only finish the day in 9th overall, more than a second behind Ricciardo’s best time.
To take out the title at this race, Ricciardo needs to finish the two races with a gap of at least 43 points over his nearest rival.
Daniel aims to stage a repeat of the great form he showed last month at Silverstone, where he led the first race from the lights to the chequered flag.
Ricciardo: “We are not going to change our approach. We will try to go for pole position and then race for the win, and obviously not do anything silly while we are out there. So long as I can finish ahead of Grubmüller we should be OK.”
Ricciardo’s plan is to try and wrap up the title this weekend, leaving the pressure off for next weekend’s final rounds at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, south of London. He’s already started the weekend in fine fashion!
It’s been reported in the latest issue of Motorsport News that Daniel Ricciardo is in line to test a car for the Red Bull squad before the end of the year.
Red Bull Racing Team boss Christian Horner was at the latest Silverstone race to see Daniel score pole position and his 5th win of the season. As part of the restrictive testing rules currently in place in F1, teams have special ‘young driver’ test days allocated at the end of each season to try out new talents and Ricciardo is being considered for a drive.
Horner told Motorsport News: “Dan is clearly doing a very good job in F3, and he’s done very well in the simulator work that he’s done with us already. We’ll keep an eye on how he does for the rest of the season and maybe give him a run out on a young driver day.”
Ricciardo said: “Hopefully they’ll be impressed with my simulator work and I’ll be able to get at least a straightline test this year.”
British F3 graduates have always been popular with F1 teams and last year’s Champion, Red Bull supported Jamie Alguersuari has recently made his debut with the Toro Rosso team. Daniel is keen to follow in his wheel tracks!
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo strengthened his position in the lead of the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series with a win and a podium place in rounds 15 & 16 held on the Silverstone International circuit.
Daniel and his Carlin Motorsport Red Bull Dallara maintained their previous good results at the Northhamptonshire track, starting out in Friday testing before the event by heading the timesheets by nearly two tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival.
This good form carried on into Saturday’s first qualifying session – for Round 15 – which saw Ricciardo come out on top in a masterful performance, two tenths of a second ahead of his team mate Max Chilton and three tenths ahead of his main Championship rival, Walter Grubmüller, who ended up 4th on the grid. Most impressively 5 of Daniel’s qualifying laps were faster than anyone else achieved!
The skies cleared for the afternoon qualifying session for Round 16, but the wind picked up, making driving trickier on the fast Silverstone layout. The best lap times didn’t come until late in the session, which unfortunately for Daniel was curtailed by an incident with series debutant Michele Faccin at the Brooklands corner which left him with damaged suspension part way through the session.
Ricciardo had to rely on his earlier lap times, which left him down in 4th on the grid, but less than two tenths of a second from pole position. Pole was set by Japanese racer Daisuke Nakajima, brother of Williams F1 driver Kazuki Nakajima. It was Nakajima’s first F3 pole position.
Daniel Ricciardo: “The first session was perfect for me. The car was consistent and I felt really good with my equipment. The second run we played it safe and kept the setup the same. The conditions changed more than we anticipated and 4th was the best I could manage. It wasn’t the pole position I was expecting but a second row start wasn’t such a bad result.”
Sunday’s first race of 23 laps saw Daniel take a dominant lights-to-flag win, extending his series lead over Walter Grubmüller who ended the race in second place, nearly 10 seconds behind, after overtaking his team mate Renger van der Zande 5 laps from the end of the race.
Daniel Ricciardo: "I got the start I needed to get. I saw that Max didn't get away well and let the HiTech boys through, but that was out of my control so I had just to focus on my race, setting the fastest lap and taking the win. After a few laps I saw the cars in my mirrors getting a bit smaller, and that's what I wanted to see."
The afternoon race – round 16 of the Series – saw much more action as the field lined up behind debut pole sitter Nakajima.
Nakajima led the field away, but Ricciardo dropped a place to 5th behind rival Grubmüller after an average start.
The front runners were all closely matched however and on lap 8 Daniel was able to jump past Grubmüller to take 4th while on the same lap van der Zande made it past Max Chilton into 2nd place. The following lap van der Zande banged wheels with Nakajima while taking the lead, which allowed Chilton, Ricciardo & Grubmüller to all close up to the Japanese driver.
Two laps later Chilton tried to make a pass on Nakajima at the Becketts corner, but came unstuck, spinning down to 9th place. This left Ricciardo in 3rd, right on the tail of 2nd placed Nakajima.
The combination of defensive driving from Nakajima and a concern for his Championship lead meant that Ricciardo held onto third place, less than half a second behind Nakajima, with title rival Grubmüller a similar distance back in 4th place.
Daniel: “I was pleased with 3rd place. I had to think about the championship and once I was in front of Grubmüller it was a good situation to be in. I just needed to keep it. I honestly think I had the pace to win the race if I had started on the front row but that’s how it goes and it proves how important qualifying is.”
Dutchman Renger van der Zande cleared out to win the race by over 11 seconds. This result has put him only 7 points behind his team mate Grubmüller in the overall Championship and will make for some difficult decisions for the HiTech team in the 4 races left in the 2009 British F3 Series.
Ricciardo and the Red Bull Carlin Motorsport Team are in a strong position now, 45 points clear with a maximum of 84 points available (20 for a win, 1 point for fastest lap) from the remaining races at Portimao in Portugal on the 13th of September and the final races at Brands Hatch a week later on the 20th of September.
Q & A for Daniel:
Are you looking forward to the last two rounds of the Series at new circuits for you?
"I can’t wait to go to these two circuits to complete the championship. I’m hoping for a good result in Portugal and to wrap up the championship there with one round in hand. This would be a perfect season for me."
What is your programme leading into the last two race meetings of the season?
"It’s the biggest break in my calendar all year so I'm going to have some time off and spend it with my cousins who have come over from Perth for a few weeks. Then I will continue my standard program of training and eating well and staying fit."
Is the fact that Jamie Alguersuari – 2008 British F3 title winner – now in F1 with the Toro Rosso team an incentive for you?
"Yep it definitely is. To see Jaime’s dream become a reality really motivates me to do the same. He was champion last year and that’s what I’m aiming to become this year!"
Any ideas of what lies ahead in 2010 for you?
"I am unsure what the future will bring for me but for now I need to focus on winning the championship and if I succeed in doing this I’m sure Red Bull will promote me to bigger and better things for 2010."
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo faces a critical weekend next weekend (15th & 16th August) in his battle to win the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series. With only 6 races of the Championship left to go, this weekend’s two races at Silverstone are vital to his title hopes.
Daniel’s last race at Silverstone in May produced a win and his Carlin Motorsport Red Bull Dallara always performs well on the 3.2 mile International circuit, which incorporates approximately half of the traditional Grand Prix circuit. With an average lap speed of well over 100 mph, the action is sure to be fast and furious!
Daniel Ricciardo: - “Silverstone is a great circuit and although its not the full GP circuit, its still a neat little track and should hopefully provide me a good result. I am still focusing on race wins and dont want to get complacent yet. Im just going to go out there and be the best I can.”
As a change of scene, last weekend Ricciardo made his debut in the Formula Renault 3.5 series at the Portimao circuit in Portugal – the venue for the penultimate round of the British F3 series on the 13th of September.
The weather was hot and dry for the weekend, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees C. Thursday testing went very well with Daniel sitting well inside the top 10 of the timesheets for most of the session and ending it 10th overall, a great result for a driver in a new and much more powerful car on a brand new circuit.
Daniel Ricciardo: “It’s great to be here, and it’s ideal to start on a circuit which everyone else is just learning. I was in the top 10 for most of the session, so it’s very encouraging for a first run. Charles Pic set the fourth fastest time, I’m going to have a word with him and try and work out where I’m losing time. The car is a terrific drive. You learn a lot driving a car like this, it’s really good experience!”
Starting in the Group A qualifying session on Friday for Saturday’s race, things didn’t go so well unfortunately, as an engine problem curtailed Daniel’s running, leaving him stuck down in 23rd place for the first race.
Race 1 didn’t go much better unfortunately! After a storming start, improving to 18th, an incident forced his retirement from the race.
Daniel: “It was going to be a difficult race starting from the rear after the earlier engine problems. I made a good start and wanted to get amongst the action with the faster guys. Coming through some of the back markers I was a bit impatient and collided which ended my race prematurely.”
Race 2’s grid positions were determined from Race 1’s results, again putting Daniel down at the back of the grid in 24th, but things were much better this time around.
After a strong race, Ricciardo finished in 15th overall, less than 10 seconds behind race winner - and recent F1 debutant Jamie Alguersuari – who was the 2008 British F3 Champion.
Daniel: “For the second race I wanted to make sure I stayed out of trouble and completed laps to gain the experience. It was a stable race and I slowly gained positions. I was never going to be able to fight in the top 10. The engine problem in qualifying shaped the rest of my weekend unfortunately.”
Following the Silverstone races this weekend, the F3 teams travel to Portimao in Portugal on the 13th of September and the final races at Brands Hatch a week later on the 20th of September.
Rain soaked conditions at the SPA Francorchamps circuit made difficult conditions for all the runners in the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series.
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo put in another sterling effort at his favourite circuit to extend his points lead in the Championship with only 6 races left to go.
A heavy but brief downpour of rain delayed the start of the race (round 14 of the Series) and the race distance was reduced to 11 laps to make up time. The majority of drivers chose to start on slick tyres on the drying track surface.
Pole winner Adriano Buzaid lead from the start, with Daniel chasing him from second on the grid. The invited Euro F3 Series cars that had qualified 2nd and 3rd were relegated to the rear of the grid as their vehicle specifications didn’t fully match the British series cars.
Buzaid had a wild moment at the Pouhon corner on lap 2 as the track conditions worsened, allowing Ricciardo to close right up on him. After a strong run through the famous Eau Rouge corner on the following lap Daniel briefly got a nose in front, but Buzaid used the aerodynamic tow to get back ahead through the Les Combes bend.
The rain returned as the race progressed and the track became even more treacherous. Ricciardo wisely decided that second was the best possible result for his points tally in the Series.
Buzaid ran out the winner by 5.9 seconds, making him the 8th different race winner in the 2009 British F3 series. Behind Ricciardo the 3rd place on the podium – 15 seconds back on the track – was taken by Championship rival Walter Grubmüller who overtook team mate Renger van der Zande who slowed dramatically over the last couple of laps.
Daniel Ricciardo: "I had a sniff of victory today. I took the lead for a while but Adriano outbraked me in a good move. Then the rain came and I had a few exciting moments and I thought that if I can end the race second then that's going to be a good result for the championship."
Ricciardo’s championship lead has now extended to 37 points, almost two race wins clear of Grubmüller, with only 6 races left to go in the Series. With the VW powered Dallara performing well and the whole Red Bull Junior team working hard to maximise results, the prospects are looking strong for the remainder of the season, commencing with the next races at Silverstone on the 16th of August.
Following the Silverstone races, they travel to Portimao in Portugal on the 13th of September and the final races at Brands Hatch a week later on the 20th of September.
In additional news, Daniel will make his Formula Renault 3.5 debut with Tech 1 Racing at the Portimao Algarve circuit in Portugal on the 1st & 2nd of August. He will substitute for fellow Red Bull Junior driver, Brendon Hartley, who is on Formula 3 Euro Series duty with the Carlin team at Oschersleben in Germany.
Daniel plans to use the drive to learn the circuit – which will host the penultimate round of the British F3 series – as well as to get a feel for the Formula Renault 3.5 cars which are powered by a 3.5l 425hp V6 engine in a 600kg Dallara built chassis.
Daniel: “Red Bull have made the decision. Brendon is the regular driver but he's not available next weekend and I guess I sprang up in their minds. It's great that they want to give me a shot and Tech 1 are a championship-winning team so it's a good way to start. I'm not really sure what to expect, but I'm not planning to be at the back!
I hope to give some competition to the rest of the field and just compare myself to Charles Pic because he's won races and is quick. If I can challenge Charles, that won't be a bad effort. It's also a chance to get in some laps and learn the track before the penultimate round of the British F3 Series. I'm looking forward to it - it's two long races and it's probably going to be hot so I guess coming from Australia will help!"
While the F1 circus is off at the Hungaroring – with Red Bull’s fellow Australian Mark Webber riding high after his success in the German Grand Prix - Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo travelled to the home of the Belgian Grand Prix hoping to make a similar impact on the latest rounds of the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series.
Thursday’s practice sessions were held in damp conditions, but by the time of qualifying a dry line had appeared on the fast and challenging 4.35 mile circuit.
The 30 minute qualifying session was interrupted by a red flag for the crash of National Class runner Max Snegirev (West-Tec Racing) after only 10 minutes of running. By this time Daniel had already started setting the pace, and once the session resumed he put in a couple of quick laps to cement his position before the session was delayed by various yellow flag incidents which prevented any faster lap times.
Daniel Ricciardo: "We weren't sure whether it was going to rain or not, so I just had to go straight out and push hard, but getting a lap in before the yellows helped a lot! Its great fun around here in an F3 car, its really rewarding when you get a good lap hooked up. Hopefully we can do the same again tomorrow."
Ricciardo ended the session 0.3 seconds ahead of his team mate Max Chilton, with Championship challengers van der Zande 3rd over half a second back and Grubmüller in 6th place nearly a full second behind.
This was Ricciardo’s third pole position of the season and laid down a marker to the rest of the field at a crucial time of the season. It also showcased his ability to the leading teams from the Euro F3 series that were running 5 cars at Spa in a non-point scoring Invitation class.
Friday morning’s qualifying session for Round 14 (to be held on Saturday) was held in wet conditions, with the track only slowly drying through the session. Lap times were over 22 seconds slower than the previous day’s session as all the teams and drivers battled to make the best of the circuit.
The final result saw a new name at the top of the grid, with Brazilian Adriano Buzaid and his VW powered T-Sport Dallara coming out in front by 6/10th of a second – making him the seventh different Pole winner this season so far. He was followed by two Invitation Class cars from the ART Mercedes team with Ricciardo in the Red Bull car in 4th place, 1.2 seconds down. His main rivals were in 6th place (van der Zande) and buried in 12th (Grubmüller) so the situation is looking promising for Saturday’s race.
Friday afternoon’s race (Round 13 of the Championship) saw another dominant performance by Daniel and his VW powered Red Bull car.
He lead from lights to flag in a faultless performance, made all the better by his nearest Championship rival, Walter Grubmüller having a non-finish due to an accident on the opening lap of the race. Beating the ART Mercedes cars which are currently dominating the Euro F3 series was especially sweet as well.
Off the line Daniel’s team mate Max Chilton stalled and was collected by the 4th placed qualifier, fortunately without too much damage to both cars, which both had to pit for repairs at the end of the first lap. This allowed Renger van der Zande to move into second place, challenging Ricciardo’s lead for the first few corners until the Safety Car was deployed to clean up debris on the circuit from the various lap 1 accidents, including that which removed Grubmüller from the race.
Once the circuit was clear, Daniel put his head down and proceeded to pull away from the field. The ART team cars eventually made their way past a struggling van der Zande, but couldn’t make an impact on Ricciardo’s lead.
Ricciardo: “I had a good start but there was a safety car almost straight away and thankfully I got a good restart once it went green again.
The first lap after the restart was what helped me I think, I pushed hard, I had a lot of grip on the new tyres which helped me break the elastic band so the drivers behind me couldn’t get a tow. Then it was about being consistent. I could see Renger and Jules fighting behind me; Bianchi finally got through and I saw him close in on me at the end, but it wasn’t enough to catch me so I didn’t take any risks. It’s nearly a perfect result. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race now”
Daniel now takes a 34 point Series lead into Saturday’s race and is looking forward to a strong run to set him up for the last three race meetings of the Series at Silverstone (16th August), Portimao in Portugal on the 13th of September and the final races at Brands Hatch a week later on the 20th of September.
In additional news, Daniel will make his Formula Renault 3.5 debut with Tech 1 Racing at the Portimao Algarve circuit in Portugal next month. He will substitute for fellow Red Bull Junior driver, Brendon Hartley, who is on Formula 3 Euro Series duty with the Carlin team at Oschersleben in Germany.
Daniel: "Brendon is the regular driver but he's not available next weekend and I guess I sprang up in their minds. It's a good thing they want to give me a shot and Tech 1 are a championship-winning team so it's a great way to start. I'm not really sure what to expect, but I'm not expecting to be at the back!”
The rain showers that threatened the Ashes cricket test at Lords had an impact on the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series races at Donnington Park this weekend.
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo and his Carlin Motorsport team have been working hard to regain competitiveness over the last couple of weeks and have been setting excellent testing times. During Friday testing at Donnington, Ricciardo set second fastest time overall during the day and was quickest during the morning test session. This followed on from a successful test at Brands Hatch where Daniel ended up fastest overall, setting lap record pace.
Saturday saw two qualifying sessions for Rounds 11 and 12 of the Championship. The first session on Saturday morning saw the best times set late in the session and after putting an excellent lap time, Ricciardo was demoted to third on the grid at the last minute when his championship rivals Renger van der Zande and Walter Grubmüller from Hitech Racing snuck ahead, van der Zande claiming his third pole position in a row.
The second qualifying session – for Round 12 – saw Daniel finally break the Hitech Racing team’s run of recent pole positions, setting a time more than a tenth clear of his nearest rival, Adriano Buzaid from T-Sport, with the Hitech cars in 3rd and 4th on the grid.
Daniel Ricciardo: “Qualifying 1 was a bit frustrating because I wasn’t very satisfied with the car balance, yet I was less than a tenth from P1 so it could have been a double pole. Hitech were in front of me so I had some work to do. Qualifying 2 was better and I set fast times throughout the run which were good enough for the pole position I had been waiting for a while now. Definitely feeling confident for the race ahead”
Sunday races saw tricky conditions with occasional rain showers affecting the circuit. Round 11 took place on a damp but drying track, with all drivers opting to run on slick tyres. Grubmüller, starting on the dryer side of the grid, got the jump at the start and led the way throughout the race, with his team mate riding shotgun behind. Daniel didn’t have it so easy with his race though!
After a faltering start, Ricciardo fell back as far as seventh place before commencing a charge back towards the front of the field. The intervention of a safety car on lap 10 to enable marshals to retrieve a stricken car helped his climb back through the field, but some aggressive overtaking moves and lap record setting pace got him back to third place with nine laps to go.
Daniel closed in on the back of the Hitech cars, but van der Zande defended his position strongly, so Ricciardo could progress no further. The race ran out to the finish, with the front three drivers separated by only just over a second and more than 5 seconds ahead of the 4th place finisher.
Daniel: “I made it hard work for myself after a poor start and had to find some sort of rhythm before I fell back any further. Once I got going I felt very good and made some nice moves to fight back to 3rd. I was much faster than Hitech but couldn’t get the job done of finding a way past and I had to be pleased with 3rd.”
The second race of the day saw Ricciardo start the Red Bull car from pole position for the second time of the season. The race started in dry but blustery conditions and Daniel led the way until a safety car was called to rescue a stranded car that had spun as the rain started to fall. Upon the restart, van der Zande made an overambitious move from two places back and collected Ricciardo’s car, spinning him down to 7th place. Meanwhile, Adrian Boyd who had qualified a lowly 10th on the grid was making inroads with a car well set up for the conditions and had already made it up to 8th at the time of Daniel’s spin. He passed the recovering Ricciardo and continued a climb through the field that would take him to his inaugural win in the F3 Series, making him the seventh different race winner this season so far.
Daniel battled back to 6th place overall, which was elevated to 5th place when van der Zande was penalised for his contact with Ricciardo and failing to serve a drive-through penalty. Daniel’s main Championship rival, Walter Grubmüller ended the race in 3rd place, closing the points gap to Daniel slightly more after the 1st race of the day. Despite all the dramas, Daniel was only 10 seconds behind the winner at the end of the race.
Daniel: “The weather is really what started the problem for me in this race. I was leading, then the safety car came out. It started to rain on the restart and I got driven into by van der Zande. Nothing else to say or nothing I could do. I continued with some damage and hung in there for some points but mentally the race was over for me once this incident occurred.”
Attention now turns to Daniel’s favourite circuit, the majestic Spa Francorchamps Grand Prix circuit in Belgium, with the teams heading straight there from Donnington for next weekend’s races. Daniel now has a 13 point Championship lead over Grubmüller, but has extended the gap over van der Zande in 3rd place. The results at Spa will be crucial to the outcome of the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series.
Daniel: “I can’t wait to get back on European soil and Spa is a great place to do it. Hitech are clearly trying a few tricks to take the title away from me but they’re going to have to bring something extra for me this weekend.”
Finally, Daniel and all his team would like to express their deepest sympathy to 1964 World F1 Champion, John Surtees and his family for the tragic accident that befell his son Henry who was competing in a Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch on Sunday. Henry had competed for the Carlin Motorsport team in the 2007 Formula BMW series and selected races in F3 in 2008. Our thoughts are with Henry’s family and friends at this sad time.
Donnington Park Preview – 16/07/09
After a return to the podium at the last round at Snetterton, Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo has underlined his desire to return to the top step of the podium by setting some scorching times in official testing at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent. He ended the morning session well inside the circuit lap record and 2/10ths of a second ahead of his nearest rival. Showers in the afternoon session meant that his time could not be challenged.
This weekend sees the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series head north to the Donnington Park circuit in the Midlands for rounds 11 and 12 of the Championship. Both races will be held on Sunday.
Daniel Ricciardo: “Hopefully I’ll start the second half of the season as successfully as the first half – with two wins. The Brands Hatch test has proven that we are well prepared for the challenge at hand. I haven’t won now for six consecutive races already – so it’s high time...!”
Daniel takes a 23 point lead into the next races, but with 20 points for each race win, he has to keep an eye on his nearest rivals, Walter Grubmüller and Renger van der Zande from Hitech Racing to make sure that they don’t close the gap. With less than one week between the Donnington races and the next races at the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium both Daniel and his Carlin Motorsport team will be working hard to maximise the results in their Volkswagen powered Dallara F309.
After battling to score points in the last two rounds, Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo and his Carlin team have got back on form and taken two podium places in the latest round of the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series.
The teams traveled to the fast and flowing Snetterton circuit in Norfolk for rounds 9 and 10 of the championship – the halfway point of the Series.
After a Friday test session headed by the Hitech Racing Dallara Mercedes of series newcomer Renger van der Zande, the Saturday morning qualifying session for Round 9 saw the closest battle for pole position of the season so far.
Once the dust had settled on the 30 minute qualifying session, van der Zande was on top again, but only by 3 thousandths of a second from Carlin team driver Henry Arundel, who was only another 5 thousandths of a second ahead of team mate Max Chilton, with Ricciardo who put on a late charge in the session ended up a further 1/10th of a second behind in fourth!
Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session for round 10 of the series was held in cooler and cloudier conditions and saw the Mercedes powered cars take hold of the front of the grid again, with van der Zande leading the way once more. Ricciardo in the Volkswagen powered Dallara had a late start to the session, but ended up 5th, just 2 hundredths of a second behind his team mate Max Chilton and less than a quarter of a second from pole position.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: “To be honest I was disappointed with the qualifying result for both races. We lacked performance from the start of the weekend on Friday and we hadn’t made any real forward steps for qualifying. We are going to need something special to have a shot at winning the race.”
The first race saw van der Zande lead from start to finish for an easy win, but behind him Ricciardo made a good start to jump to third place initially, shadowing team mate Arundel. On lap 20 of 29, Arundel started having gear selection problems which gave Daniel the opportunity to get past into second place which he immediately consolidated, finishing less than 4 seconds behind the race winner and nearly seven seconds clear of Arundel who hung on to finish third despite his gearbox woes.
Round 10 of the series held on Sunday afternoon heralded another new race winner – the 6th of the season, as Team Fortec’s Riki Christodoulou turned his third place on the grid into a race win after a battle to the flag with Ricciardo.
Pole sitter Renger van der Zande spoilt an otherwise perfect weekend by bogging down at the start of the race and dropping down the field. Walter Grubmüller took the initial lead, with Christodoulou jumping into second and Ricciardo made a brave move and forced his way up the inside of Van der Zande on the run to turn 1, having to take a bit of the grass to get the job done. After three laps Christodoulou made his way past Grubmüller and into the lead. This bunched the pair up and Ricciardo took advantage of the situation and moved past Grubmüller on the outside of the following turn to take over second place.
Ricciardo gave chase to the race leader, but had to keep an eye on his mirrors as his main Championship rival Grubmüller tried to fight back over the remaining laps of the race.
The race ran through to the end in that order, but with the top three only separated at the flag by less than two seconds.
It was a strong result for Daniel Ricciardo and the Carlin Red Bull Junior team which extends their Championship lead to 23 points – almost one complete race win.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: “Race 1 was quite processional. I made a good start and stayed close with my team mate. I knew if I could find a way past I would be able to pull away. Eventually this happened and I then set my personal fastest lap of the race. But this was still 3 tenths of a second from the overall fastest lap. Still some work to do...” ”Race 2 was a lot of fun. I got a very good jump off the line and had to go on the grass to get ahead of Van der Zande who was squeezing me to the edge of the track. I had enough momentum to make the move stick and then set out for Grubmüller two laps later. I had a good slipstream from him down the back straight and went around the outside in the braking for turn 3. It was a bit risky but knew I had to go for it to give myself a winning chance. I tried to stay with Christodoulou but couldn’t get anymore out of myself or the car and 2nd place was the best possible outcome for me. Overall I’m very pleased to bag two 2nd places on a weekend that was looking quite dull on Friday.”
The next event on the calendar sees the teams head to Donnington Park on the 19th of July for Rounds 11 and 12 of the Series. This date replaces the event scheduled for earlier in the season which was postponed due to work at the circuit in preparation for the 2010 British Grand Prix.
The week after, the teams will be in action at the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for the next two races. These two back-to-back events mark a critical point in the 2009 British F3 Series and Daniel is hoping to cement his place at the top of the Championship over those consecutive weekends.
After disappointing results in their last two races, Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo and his Carlin team are looking to reassert their authority on the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series.
This weekend’s races – rounds 9 and 10 of the championship mark the halfway point of the series. The races are being held at the fast and flowing Snetterton circuit in Norfolk.
In two days of testing at Snetterton last week, Championship leader Daniel finished second fastest to his nearest title challenger Walter Grubmüller on the first day and fastest overall on the second day.
The Red Bull supported team has been working on a series of improvements to the car to return it to the front of the pack.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: “We’ve had a good test and found some ways to improve the car. My main aim for the weekend is to get on the podium at the very least. We’ve had a bad run in the last four races, but I think we’ve got the pace back again and my goal will be to get to the top step of the podium. I’ve been training extra hard and my mother and father are over from Australia to give me some extra support so it should be a good weekend.”
Round 9 of the Series takes place on Saturday afternoon at 12.50pm UK time and Round 10 follows on Sunday at 4.50pm.
The week after, the teams will be in action at the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for the next two races. These two back-to-back events mark a critical point in the 2009 British F3 Series where the title could be won or lost.
Direct from the race at the German Grand Prix circuit at Hockenheim last week, Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo and his Carlin team headed for the prestigious Formula 3 Masters race, held at the Zandvoort circuit in Holland.
The F3 Masters is an ‘unofficial’ European Championship as all the top teams from the race series across Europe take part in this annual ‘one-off’ event. 36 drivers from across the continent took part in qualifying, which was split into two groups, with the top 10 from each group going into a pole position shoot out, which was crucial to getting a good result. Ricciardo was in the second group of cars and finished up well inside the top ten with 4th fastest time. This was an excellent result considering that Daniel and the team had to cope with using different (Kumho) tyres compared to the Cooper Tires they normally race on in the British Championship.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: I was pleased with the first session of qualifying where I was 4th in my group. I had only been on the track for 30 minutes until this point so I was happy with this effort and we were right amongst the top drivers. Then for the Superpole session the circuit had changed more than we anticipated and our pace dropped significantly. The way in which we chose to go with car setup wasn't the right one for the conditions and the most I could get out of myself and the car was just good enough for 13th. I was disappointed with this because it looked promising in the earlier session and I expected to keep moving forward.
The pole position shootout session was only 20 minutes long and the final few minutes were hectic as all the drivers were out on the track trying to improve their times, with the consequence that traffic was heavy on the circuit and it was hard to find some clear space to set a competitive lap time on a track that was getting hotter and dirtier as cars ran wide into gravel traps trying to extract the last few hundredths of seconds. Daniel and his team were battling to get a good lap time from the car and consequently he could only manage 13th fastest time, 1.3 seconds shy of Frenchman (& last year’s Masters winner) Jules Bianchi on pole, but was well clear of his teammates who didn’t make it through to the shootout session.
Come race day, Bianchi was penalised 5 grid places for blocking other drivers in qualifying, so his teammate, Finn Valtteri Bottas took over pole position and proceeded to lead the 25 lap race from start to finish becoming the first Finnish driver to win the Masters event in its 19 year history.
However, things didn’t go so well for Ricciardo as when he was heading to the grid on the warm-up lap his gearbox decided to play up and he was unable to take part in the race. This was his first technical failure on the car in 9 races, but left Daniel and the Carlin Red Bull team very disappointed.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: On the warm up lap I went up through the gears and only got as high as 3rd. I couldn't select 4th gear or anything higher so it was pointless trying to start the race so I pulled in the pits before the start and my weekend was done. An extremely upsetting end to the weekend. These things sometimes happen and unfortunately its part of racing.
The next event on the calendar marks the halfway point of the British F3 Championship and takes place at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk on the 5th of July.
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo had another challenging weekend as the 2009 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series headed overseas for the first time this season. Rounds 7 & 8 of the series took place at the Hockenheim circuit – the home of the German Grand Prix.
Coming only a week after the last race meeting at the Rockingham circuit in the UK, it was a rush for the teams and drivers to get the cars prepared and ready to go at a circuit that was new for many of the drivers, Daniel included. The format for the weekend was also slightly changed, with the races split over the Saturday and Sunday, and qualifying sessions similarly split over the Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
Friday’s qualifying session (for round 7 of the series) brought a good showing for the Carlin team in general and Daniel in the VW powered Red Bull car specifically. In his first ever visit to the track, Ricciardo ended up only 7/100ths of a second behind Renger van der Zande who has done countless laps at Hockenheim and only managed to beat Daniel’s time in the last five minutes of the session.
Saturday morning’s qualifying session for Round 8 (the Sunday race) saw another tight battle at the top of the time charts.
Conditions were damp but drying throughout the session, with final lap times about a second off the best of the previous day. This time around the Mercedes powered HiTech racing cars of Walter Grubmüller and Renger van der Zande annexed the front row of the grid, but Daniel was close behind in third place, less than 4/10ths of a second from pole position.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "Qualifying was ok but I was really hoping for a pole position. From the pace I had in free practice I knew I would fight for it and really wanted it. Unfortunately we seemed to stay at our practice pace and the other teams found some more speed during qualifying.”
Saturday afternoon’s race saw the winner of the previous race at Rockingham, Marcus Ericsson make a lightning start from 3rd on the grid and jump both Ricciardo and van der Zande to take the lead and clear away from the pack. Aside from a small mistake mid-race when he ran wide at the hairpin bend and was momentarily lead by van der Zande, Ericsson lead from start to finish. Ricciardo meantime was having a more lonely race in 3rd place until challenged by the closing Walter Grubmüller, who had started 8th on the grid after problems in qualifying. After a short tussle Grubmüller was able to get past Ricciardo for the last spot on the podium and the cars ran to the finish in that order, with the Red Bull car just under 10 seconds behind the race winner after 30 min and 19 laps of the German Grand Prix circuit.
Heavy rain greeted the competitors on Sunday morning, but by the time of the race the track was drying, but still damp and unpredictable in places. Despite that, all the drivers chose the Cooper Tires slicks for the race.
Pole sitter Grubmüller led the field away, but a storming start from 5th saw the previous day’s race winner Ericsson jump to 2nd off the line. He held that place until lap 6, when van der Zande took advantage of the conditions to get back to second place and act as tail gunner for his Austrian teammate in the lead.
Ricciardo had an eventful start, having to take avoiding action so that he wouldn’t get involved in other driver’s accidents. This delayed him and dropped him down the field. Within 2 laps he had climbed back to 6th place and was involved in a close battle for the last podium spot.
Ricciardo and his fellow Carlin Team drivers Max Chilton & Robert Wickens (who had climbed from 15th on the grid) were all fighting over the place and behind them other drivers were closing in. It all came to a head on lap 12 when the chasing T-Sport car of Wayne
Boyd tried an ambitious move at the hairpin bend and only succeeded in making contact with Ricciardo and his teammate Chilton! Boyd retired due to the damage sustained, while Chilton received a puncture and Daniel fortunately only suffered a spin that dropped him down the field to 7th. This became 8th as he was caught by Nick Tandy on the last lap.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "Race 1 was a long race for me simply because we didn’t have the pace to fight for the win. I tried to hold onto the last podium spot but Grubmüller had a much better package and made it look easy finding a way past me. Race 2 was very frustrating. I avoided a spinning car on the first turn and dropped from 3rd to 9th from this. I was able to regain some composure and get as high as 4th and was looking good for a podium at least. Then getting hit from behind ruined my race and another frustrating weekend passes by”
Grubmüller took his first win in the British F3 Championship after three seasons of trying and now holds second place in the title race to Daniel – who still leads the series by 15 points.
The next event on the calendar marks the halfway point of the Championship and takes place at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk on the 5th of July. Daniel and the Red Bull car will be hoping to maintain their excellent pace but with some extra good luck added in!
This weekend coming sees Daniel and the Red Bull Junior Team traveling to the Zandvoort circuit in Holland for the prestigious annual “F3 Masters” race. Drivers from all over Europe compete for the win at this special event which is held in high regard in the International racing calendar and the unofficial ‘European F3 Championship. Previous winners of the event include David Coulthard and Lewis Hamilton.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "I’m really looking forward to the F3 Masters at Zandvoort this weekend and I am going to give it everything I have in this non-championship race. There is nothing to lose and a lot on the plate so it will definitely create exciting racing and I hope to be up there at the pointy end fighting for it all come Sunday afternoon.”
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo had weekend of ups and downs as the 2009 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series took to the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire for rounds 5 and 6 of the championship.
After a 4 week break since the previous round at Silverstone, all the drivers were raring to go racing again in the dry and sunny conditions that prevailed over the weekend.
Saturday saw Daniel take his first pole position in the series with a time for the Round 5 qualifying session by a narrow margin over Round 3 race winner, Dutchman Renger van der Zande. In the second qualifying session – for Round 6 – Ricciardo’s qualifying run was hampered by yellow flags for an incident on the track and he lost the opportunity to get the best from his tyres, ending up 8th on the grid, but only 0.35 of a second from pole position:
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "When I went out for the second qualifying session this afternoon the car felt good. On my first flying lap there yellow flags at turn three and I slowed down so as not to get penalised. Then once the yellow flags were clear I started to push again, but I don’t think the heat cycle of the tyres was where I needed it to be. I’m sure without the yellow it could have been different."
“This morning was much better. I was able to put in a good lap when the tyres were at their best and get pole; the first F3 pole is ticked off now which is nice. I’ve got the opportunity in race one to lead from the front and in the second race I’m going to have make my way through the traffic. I think its positive overall; there are a lot of points to be won this weekend.”
After a minute’s silence as a tribute to JTR team owner Joe Tandy, who was killed in a car accident earlier this month, Sunday’s race action got under way.
Daniel started from pole position, but was jumped by van der Zande off the line. Ricciardo attempted to repass at the Deene hairpin, but the two cars came together and the Red Bull car retired on the spot. This enabled third placed qualifier Nick Tandy to come through and score an emotional victory for the JTR team, closing Ricciardo’s lead in the championship by 20 points.
The second race– Round 6 of the Series – saw Ricciardo line up in 8th place on the grid and hoping for a better result than the first race of the day.
The first lap saw incidents aplenty, resulting in 4 cars being forced to retire and previous race winner Nick Tandy having to limp back to the pits for lengthy repairs. All this enabled Ricciardo to come through into 6th position, which improved to 5th place when front runner Riki Christodoulou was first given a drive-through penalty for starting in the wrong grid position and then black flagged for not taking the penalty correctly.
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo is looking forward to the 3rd round of the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series, being held this weekend at the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire.
Daniel is back from an intensive training session in the Red Bull Diagnostics Training Centre in Austria and raring to go.
At last week’s official FOTA test session at the Rockingham circuit no drivers were able to match the times Ricciardo set at a test session back in March, him included! The track conditions were mixed, with a dry morning giving way to a damp afternoon session.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "The test last week was difficult as there were changing conditions all day including some rain and very strong winds. I didn't do a very good new tire run so it was not a clear indication of my pace but I am confident to be up there in the top 3 for this upcoming weekend."
On a solemn note, Daniel Ricciardo’s nearest championship rival, Nick Tandy has suffered a recent tragedy. His brother Joe, the owner of the Joe Tandy Racing team that Nick races for was killed in a road accident on the 13th of May near his home in Bedfordshire.
Joe was aged only 26 and was killed instantly, while his passenger (and future brother-in-law) Luke Temple passed away later in hospital. We would all like to express our deepest sympathy to Nick, his family, the Temple family and all at JTR at this very sad time.
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo has extended his lead in the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series following another win at Silverstone today, making it three wins from four races!
Ricciardo started his weekend well by heading the timesheets after Friday’s two test sessions – held in dry and sunny conditions on the full Grand Prix circuit – by a comfortable four tenths of a second from his Carlin Motorsport team-mate Max Chilton.
Saturday threw up a challenge as Daniel’s qualifying session for race one was interrupted by a spin into the gravel trap at Copse corner, leaving him down in 11th place for his first race of the weekend, while team-mate Chilton took pole position.
Things improved for the qualifying session for the second race, with Daniel finishing the session with the second fastest time – scored on his final flying lap - only 0.15 seconds behind Chilton who picked up his second pole position of the weekend.
Race one on Sunday (Round 3 of the Series) saw Ricciardo jump from 11th on the grid to be 7th by the end of the first lap and 5th by lap three! After closing onto the tail of rival Riki Christodoulou, Ricciardo unfortunately couldn’t find a way past despite applying intense pressure, so he finished up 5th overall, less than half a second behind Christodoulou in 4th and less than 5 seconds behind the overall race winner.
Out front the race was won by series newcomer, Dutchman Renger van der Zande in a Dallara–Mercedes who jumped pole winner Chilton in the VW powered car at the start and was never headed for the rest of the race.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "Race 1 was a good result for me considering my grid position and even just to finish the race from this far back with a clean nose is a bonus. I told myself I would be very happy with a top 5 if I could pull it off, so in doing this I am very satisfied with the result. I needed to be aggressive and alert on the opening lap and after some quick decisions it paid off and I jumped a few places."
Race 2 saw Ricciardo make a clean start from the front row and shadow his team-mate for 15 laps until Chilton made a slight mistake coming onto the Hanger straight allowing Ricciardo to pounce and pull up alongside. Coming down the straight and heading into Stowe corner they were side by side and Ricciardo bravely held on around the outside of the turn and picked up the lead.
A lap later Chilton fell victim to an opportunistic move from Ricciardo’s race one nemesis, Christodoulou and positions were then maintained until the chequered flag. Ricciardo finished up nearly two seconds ahead of the field and has extended his championship lead to 28 points – more than one full race win!
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "Max's first few laps were good and he managed to pull out a gap on me. Then I started to feel more comfortable with the car and I started to close in on him. I saw Max start to have a some problems and with a few laps to go I managed to get alongside him through the fast Maggotts/Becketts section and got the run on him down the Hanger straight."
Ricciardo now heads to Austria to do a week long fitness and health evaluation programme at the Red Bull Training Centre. The next races in the 2009 Cooper Tires British International F3 Series (rounds 5 and 6) will be held on Sunday the 31st of May at the Rockingham circuit near Corby in Northhamptonshire.
Following on from his double win at the opening round of the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Series, Red Bull Junior Driver Daniel Ricciardo carried his form through to a very cold and damp Silverstone circuit to top the testing times on Thursday.
Despite a late spin which ended his session, Ricciardo proved his versatility by making the best of the track conditions to top the times throughout the day, finishing up nearly 0.3 of a second faster than his nearest rival.
Daniel has laid down a marker to the rest of the field that he will be the one to beat this season. After the day was over, we conducted a quick question and answer session with Daniel:
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "It was a perfect weekend and I’m really happy with the result. We didn’t get pole position, but we were right at the front all weekend and were consistently quick, which was really important to us."
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "At this stage there is still another 9 race meetings to go, with two races at each one, so we will just keep taking it as it comes and trying to maximise the results each time. I’m still learning the car and the circuits and the team has more developments in the pipeline, so we will just try to stay focused and hopefully the results will come.
If you try and look too far ahead at this stage of the season you can get caught out, so we don’t want to do that! ."
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "Obviously my three team mates at Carlin, Max Chilton, Oliver Oakes and Henry Arundel have the same equipment as me, so I’ve got to work hard to stay ahead of them! After that there are a range of guys who can challenge us. There are other drivers such as Nick Tandy who has a different engine & chassis combination, which may work better at different circuits and in different conditions. We’ve just got to keep on top of our game."
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "I’ve not been to Brands Hatch as yet and I know that some of the other guys have a lot of experience there, but I’m looking forward to racing there as I gather it’s a great driver’s circuit and I seem to learn the tracks pretty quickly. I’m not too worried about new tracks"
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "The F3 car has more power and torque than the Formula Renault and the chassis is more developed. The Renault is a ‘spec’ chassis, whereas the F3 car has a lot more aerodynamic developments. This means that the grip levels are higher, so the cornering speeds are higher and the braking is stronger too. Also the team is allowed to make its own aero developments, so there are more things that change over the season. This means that I have to understand what the car is doing when we change things and work more with my engineer to get the best out of the car.
I also have to be fitter as the higher cornering speeds and stronger braking put more strain on me! ."
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "Because of the conditions we were working on a wet weather setup most of the time! It was a chance for me to get more comfortable in the wet conditions as I’ve not done a lot of wet weather running in these cars yet. We worked through some adjustments on the car and it kept getting better and better despite the rain, so we were happy with that. To be fastest despite a small spin at the end, when I put a wheel up on a kerb, was great."
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "For sure we do. I’m learning more about the car and the circuits here in the UK all the time and improving my feedback to my engineer so that we can make the car go even quicker. The team has an ongoing aero development programme and Volkswagen is working on some engine developments too, so there is always new stuff to work with."
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "Red Bull has a personal trainer that I’m in contact with every week and I send him through details of what I’ve done and download my heart rate monitor. He looks at my exercise programme and advises me of any changes that I should make.
Every couple of months they fly me over to Austria to their training centre and we work through a fitness programme there and twice a year we have a fitness camp alongside the other Red Bull Junior Team drivers from across Europe.
I also get some cool Red Bull clothing and hopefully I’ll get to go along to some Red Bull supported extreme sports events if I’m not racing! "
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "I spend about 4 hours in the gym, split between the morning and the afternoon which fills up the day pretty well. If the weather is good, then some of the other drivers and I who live close together like to get out and play tennis or go mountain biking or something like that. I stay in touch with the team base, but I only go there every couple of weeks or before a race meeting or test session to go through stuff with my engineer. I don’t want to get in the way of the mechanics who have their job to do, but it’s good to keep in touch and let them know you appreciate their efforts."
DANIEL RICCIARDO: "In other news, the Donnington Park round scheduled for the 26th of April has had to be postponed as the track is undergoing work involved with 2010 British Grand Prix, so the next races will now be on the International circuit at Silverstone on the 2nd and 3rd of May."
Red Bull Junior Team Driver Daniel Ricciardo has made a dream debut with two wins in the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Championship.
After qualifying strongly on the front row for each of the two races of the first round of the Championship, Ricciardo carried his practice form into both races for two dominant wins. With his new Red Bull sponsored Volkswagen powered Dallara performing perfectly in the clear and sunny conditions at the Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire, he now holds a commanding 12 point lead in the Championship.
Race 1 saw his Carlin Motorsport team-mate, Max Chilton, jump the starting lights from pole position, meaning that Daniel only had to worry about the pressure from Nick Tandy in the Mercedes powered JTR-Mygale, who worked his way through to 2nd place after a poor start. In the the end Daniel strengthened his lead, overtaking the penalised Chilton near the end of the race, and at the flag finished over two seconds clear of Tandy.
"I made a great start but I noticed that Max misjudged the lights and jumped the start, so I knew he'd get a penalty. From then on I had to race my own race and not worry about him in front. Nick's pace was really good and mid-race it was really hard to keep him behind me. It's a great start, to win in my first race here is incredible."
Race 2 saw an extra challenge thrown into the mix. After an accident further down the field on the opening lap, the first start was red flagged. On the second start, Ricciardo once again achieved a tremendous launch, overtaking the pole sitter, Walter Grubmuller, and by the end of the first lap of the restart Daniel’s VW-Dallara was 1.3 seconds clear of the pack. He consolidated his position and controlled the race from the front, bringing the Red Bull car home over 2.6 seconds clear of the chasing pack after 16 laps
"I had another very good start and got past Grubmüller. That was really the deciding moment in this race. My special thanks to the Carlin Motorsport team, who have prepared a perfect car. A great day, what an Easter weekend - a double win on my first race weekend in England, incredible!"
The next race will be held at Donnington Park on Sunday the 26th of April.
After a strong run in pre-season testing, Red Bull Junior driver Daniel Ricciardo is looking to make a strong showing in this weekend’s debut event for the 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Championship.
At the final two day test official on the Silverstone circuit last week Daniel finished 5th overall, less than 1/10th of a second behind the fastest runner and well under lap record pace.
Daniel, along with his Carlin Motorsport team mates race an Italian built Dallara chassis powered by the new Volkswagen F3 engine.
This combination took 6 of the top 7 places in final testing, which highlights how close the competition will be once the flag drops at the first race on Easter Monday.
To underline the closeness of the series, over the 6 official pre-season test days held so far there have been 5 different drivers setting the pace. Only Daniel has taken the honours twice!
Teams in Formula 3 are allowed to develop their own modifications to the chassis and aerodynamics and Carlin Motorsport has an extensive Research and Development department, which has enabled the team to become the most successful British F3 team in recent years, including winning the 2008 Championship. The team’s experience and expertise is highlighted by the fact that they have been the only one to have the drivers consistently on the pace at each of the test sessions.
After a Championship winning result in 2008, Red Bull Junior driver Daniel Ricciardo faces a whole new challenge for 2009.
After taking victory in the Western European Cup Formula Renault 2.0l Championship and finishing runner up in the Formula Renault Eurocup, he will be taking a leap up the motorsport ladder, racing in the 2009 British International Formula 3 Championship.
Daniel was Australia’s most successful international racer in 2008 and is now in his 2nd year as part of the Red Bull Junior programme.
With the ongoing support of Red Bull, Daniel will be building on last year’s success, launching into the high profile world of British Formula 3. This is one of the most hotly contested series anywhere in world motorsport and the training ground for many Formula 1 champions.
Previous F3 racers include fellow Australian and Red Bull F1 driver Mark Webber as well as F1 drivers including David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Nelson Piquet Jnr. To speed his transition into Formula 3, the Red Bull Junior team has placed Ricciardo with the reigning F3 Championship team, Carlin Motorsport. Carlin are the most successful team in British Formula 3 history, with 4 championship wins since 1999 and 14 race wins alone in the 2008 season.
Already Daniel has been setting the pace in his Red Bull supported Dallara F3 car, powered by the latest version of the Volkswagen F3 engine. In the latest official test sessions at the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire, he finished ahead of the rest of the field and 1.5 seconds inside the existing official lap record for the class. This backed up his similar result at the test session held at the Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire a week earlier where he also headed the time sheets by a handsome margin in wet conditions on the first day of testing and backed that up with 4th place the following day in the dry.
"Im looking forward to the jump up to Formula 3 this season and I'm really enjoying the car so far. There is plenty still to learn and it is a very complex category but testing has been going to plan and the new Volkswagen engine seems strong so we have got off onto the right foot. I'm very eager to start the season in a few weeks time and let the real business begin"
The 2009 Cooper Tires British International Formula 3 Championship will be contested over a series of 10 events, 7 on circuits within the UK and 3 overseas at Bucharest in Romania, Spa Francorchamps in Belgium and Hockenheim in Germany. There will be two 30 minute races at each event.
Also this year there is the possibility of racing in the prestigious Formula 3 Masters at Zandvoort, Holland on the 13th and 14th of June and the famous Formula 3 street race in Macau on the 21st and 22nd of November.
The season starts at the Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire near Liverpool on Easter Monday the 13th of April and concludes on the 20th of September at the famous Brands Hatch circuit in Kent.
www.redbull-juniorteam.com www.fota.co.uk www.crash.net
Daniel Ricciardo has become the champion in this year’s inaugural Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 in last weekend’s final race meeting in Barcelona! By clinching two pole position, a race win, a fastest lap and a second finishing position, the SG Formula driver could easily held off local driver Roberto Merhi in their fight for the crown and finished the season with a blistering 192 points on his tally.
In the final Eurocup standings, Ricciardo finished in 2nd position, just missing out on the championship after experiencing a difficult first race in the wet on Saturday. Even though the Red Bull Junior driver won Sunday’s final race, he came only a staggering 3 points short to win both campaigns.
This weekend’s season final at the Spanish Grand Prix circuit was soon bound to become a true thriller after rainfall disordered Saturday’s first Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 race. As the race would start in wet conditions even though it stopped raining, Ricciardo and his engineer decided to start on a full wet set-up and rain tyres. But as the track dried out much sooner as expected, Ricciardo found himself struggling in the second part of the 14-lap race. His main championship rival, Vallteri Bottas, started on a dry set-up and soon got the better hand over Ricciardo. In the final four laps, Ricciardo just tried to survive and couldn’t avoid dropping down to P6 while Bottas took the win. With a 10 points arrear, the Perth born driver just had to win Sunday’s race while Bottas should not finish higher than fifth position in order to still clinch the title. In Sunday’s decisive final race, Ricciardo didn’t put a foot wrong and won the race pretty comfortable, but as Bottas finished in fourth position, the Finnish Motopark Academy driver won the championship with a margin of only 3 points…
In the Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0, Ricciardo ended his season on a high by winning the championship in style. After the Australian ace scored a straightforward win from pole position in Sunday morning’s first race, he finished his season by scoring another podium position (P2) in the final race of the season later that day. With almost the maximum amount of points scored in this final meeting, Ricciardo comfortably won the championship, ahead of Spanish driver Roberto Merhi.
“Wow, I really feel on top of the world! I was a little disappointed after missing out on the Eurocup championship earlier today, because I gave it my utmost. I won six races this year in the championship, but it just wasn’t enough against Bottas. I’m very happy to have turned the tide in Sunday’s decisive WEC races and win this title, which is just as precious for me as most of the drivers compete in both series. Many thanks for all involved, we can be proud of our joint successes! Together with Red Bull I will now start looking forward to next year. I hope I can bring good news soon!”
01. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, 192 points 02. Roberto Merhi (ESP), Epsilon Euskadi, 184 points 03. Andrea Caldarelli (ITA), SG Formula, 129 points
01. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Motopark Academy, 139 points 02. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, 136 points 03. Andrea Caldarelli (ITA), SG Formula, 123 points
Australian ace Daniel Ricciardo experienced a difficult penultimate round of the Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 at Magny-Cours this weekend. The SG Formula driver looked to be on the pace in Thursday’s and Friday’s free practice sessions, but found it difficult to maintain his rhythm once the weekend progressed. Even though the Red Bull Junior driver drove two solid, point-scoring races at the French Grand Prix circuit, he had to hand the championship lead to his main rival Roberto Merhi. But with only two points separating the two men, Ricciardo is fully confident he will come out on top after next weekend’s final round in Barcelona, one of his favourite circuits.
In Thursday’s three-hour free practice session, Ricciardo and his SG Formula team spend their time finding a good base, in both terms of set-up and driving, at the 4,411 meter long track close to Nevers. As he didn’t opt to mount a set of new tires at the end of the session, like all other drivers did, Ricciardo finished the day in 5th position and was pretty confident about his chances for the rest of the weekend. Also in Friday’s final free practice session, Ricciardo was still ahead of his game even though he wasn’t able to set a real fast lap time in this one-hour session as some yellow flags were being shown following some on-track accidents.
In both Saturday’s qualifying session (for race 01) and Sunday’s edition, Ricciardo found it hard to match Roberto Merhi’s pace. Even though the Perth-born driver was never far behind, he could only manage to set the fourth fastest time at the countryside circuit in both sessions. On Saturday’s grid he was promoted to third position later on as his team mate Jean-Eric Vergne was penalized by the organizers.
“It was a bit of a shock to find out we were never in the hunt for pole position in qualifying. Merhi’s Epsilon Euskadi squad was quick all weekend and I simply couldn’t match their pace this time. But having said that, I’m not too downhearted about starting in 3rd and 4th position, as it still offers me a plenty of chances to have some good races.”
Having enjoyed a fine start from third position on Saturday afternoon, Ricciardo was eager to set his sights on attacking Roberto Merhi in the opening phase of the 12-lap race, but soon got challenged himself by drivers behind him.
In the tight right-hander hairpin which follows the back straight, his team mate Andrea Caldarelli sneaked past Ricciardo and pushed him wide so that two other drivers could also overtake him. At the end of the first lap, Ricciardo had fallen back to sixth position and tried to push as hard as he could to stay with them. But a presumed problem with his tire pressure, causing a lot of understeer, saw him struggling to keep the pace throughout the remainder of the race. Ricciardo therefore could do no more than bringing the car home in sixth position.
In Sunday’s second race, Ricciardo enjoyed a first lap battle with his team mate Andrea Caldarelli for third position but as he out braked himself at one point in the opening lap, he settled for fourth position. The flat spot on his front left tire however caused a severe amount of vibration in his car throughout the remaining 11 laps. With only three laps to go, race leader Roberto Merhi suffered from a graining problem with his rear tires and that boosted Ricciardo’s hopes of still being able to finish ahead of the Spanish driver. The two championship rivals gave the audience a breath-taking show in the final two laps in which they touched wheels several times. Even though Ricciardo was a lot quicker than Merhi, he couldn’t find a way past him without taking too many risks and finished the race in fourth position, right behind Merhi.
“Wow, that was quite a battle on Sunday afternoon. I really tried to get past Roberto, but instantly knew he was not going to let me by. Therefore I decided it was better to stay in fourth position than to take the risk of being pushed out of the race and score zero points. Even though I’m two points behind Roberto now in the championship, I’m still very confident about my chances. It’s obviously going to be very close in Barcelona, but I’m ready for it. Let’s do this!”
After a somewhat troubled start of the seventh round of the Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, Daniel Ricciardo managed to turn the tide and leave the Belgian Grand Prix circuit on Sunday evening with another victory, pole position and 2nd place. Even though his main rivals, Roberto Merhi and Andrea Caldarelli remained close, the SG Formula driver was able to extend his lead in the championship to 12 points.
Even though most of the teams and drivers already got quite some mileage under their belt in this year’s Eurocup race meeting and pre-season tests, the entire pack was given the opportunity to test for four hours on Thursday afternoon. In wet conditions, Ricciardo struggled a bit to find a good rhythm and car balance. As the track was dried out on Friday morning for the final free practice session, the Red Bull Junior driver worked on his dry weather set-up. An attempt to set a fast lap time on a new set of slick tires however failed as the left rear tire of the young Australian ace exploded already on his outlap.
Therefore entering the first qualifying session on Saturday morning felt like driving on a dark road for Ricciardo. After the Belgian Ardennes were hit by torrential rain overnight, the track dried out during the session. Ricciardo was the first of the group of 35 drivers to change to slick tires halfway the session. It was definitely the right decision as he squeezed out a near-perfect lap at the end of the session in order to set the second best time, only a fraction of a second behind Spanish driver Roberto Merhi. In Sunday’s second qualifying session, just ahead of the second race, Ricciardo once again showed he is the man to beat this year in the Formula Renault two-liters as he scored a dominant pole position, handing him another valuable point for the tight championship.
Ricciardo got the best out of the start of the first race on Saturday afternoon from all drivers and past Roberto Merhi at the end of the Kemmel straight in the first lap. But as the 7.004 km offers several slipstream possibilities, the Spanish Epsilon Euskadi driver retook the lead in the second lap at the same spot. As Ricciardo’s teammate and title rival Andrea Caldarelli also started to charge him, the Perth-born driver decided to consolidate his second position in the remainder of the race and finish in that same position after 12 tough laps.
After having started Sunday’s second race from pole position behind the safety-car because of the extremely wet conditions, Ricciardo easily managed to hold his position after the safety-car was deployed and controlled the shortened race from start to finish. As the race was red-flagged after 8 laps due to an accident, Ricciardo ended the weekend on a high, scoring a comfortable win.
“I’m very happy to have been able to turn the tide throughout this weekend together with my SG Formula team. Roberto Merhi and me divided the main points this weekend, so I’m still enjoying a nice lead in the championship. I hope I can continue my form in the next two weeks as we will now head straight to Magny-Cours for the penultimate round of the WEC championship next weekend and have our season final in Barcelona the week after. Keep your fingers crossed!”
Australian ace expands lead in WEC and eyes Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 title showdown in Barcelona
It was a busy weekend for Daniel Ricciardo in Estoril with two races of both the Eurocup and the Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 scheduled, but a rewarding one as well. The SG Formula driver won the first race of both series at the former Portuguese Grand Prix circuit and managed to also secure a podium finish in Sunday’s second WEC race by finishing second. Ricciardo now holds a comfortable lead in the WEC driver standing with three events to go, and trails Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas by one single point in the Eurocup standings with only one meeting in Barcelona left.
With four combined (Eurocup/WEC) free practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, Ricciardo and his SG Formula team got up to speed as the weekend progressed. After the Red Bull Junior driver somewhat struggled to match the pace of his main rival Valtteri Bottas on the first day, he made some successful set-up changes overnight in order to equal the Finnish driver on Friday and even out qualify him in Saturday’s Superpole session.
Having started from pole position in Saturday’s first race, Ricciardo held off Bottas twice in the opening lap before the safety-car neutralized the race for a couple of laps after several cars had spun off the track and caused dangerous situations. Once the safety-car was deployed, the Australian young gun managed to pull a gap as Bottas and Roberto Merhi began to fight each other and easily cruised to victory.
Sunday’s second race start was a near disaster for the Perth born driver. After he almost stalled his engine on the grid, Ricciardo dropped down to P9 before getting all tangled up in the first corner. With damage to both his front and rear end, Ricciardo pushed hard to turn the tide, but could not prevent from finishing in tenth position, securing only one point. With only one round to go in Barcelona next month, Ricciardo is eager to end the season in top position.
In the WEC races, Ricciardo was in control all weekend. After having claimed two front row starting positions for both races, he won his second race of the weekend on Sunday morning with a margin of three-and-a-half seconds. In Sunday’s final race at the 4,182 meter long track near Lisbon, Ricciardo enjoyed a tough but fair battle with Roberto Merhi and his Epsilon Euskadi team mate Albert Costa before taking the chequered flag in second position.
“I’m happy to have won races in both the Eurocup and WEC this weekend, as it looks like we will have a title showdown in Barcelona in both series next month. It’s my objective to win both categories, but I realize my closest opponents won’t make life easy for me. Next stop is Spa-Francorchamps, where we will have another two WEC races. I was very competitive there in pre-season testing and the World Series by Renault meeting this season, so I hope to have another go for victory again next week.”
01. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Motopark Academy, 119 points 02. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, 118 points 03. Andrea Caldarelli (ITA), SG Formula, 101 points
01. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, 120 points 02. Roberto Merhi (ESP), Epsilon Euskadi, 105 points 03. Andrea Caldarelli (ITA), SG Formula, 59 points
It has not exactly been an uneventful weekend for Daniel Ricciardo in this weekend’s fifth round of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series at Le Mans. Next to the two scheduled races for his Eurocup campaign, the Red Bull Junior driver also participated in the Western European Cup (WEC) round at the famous French circuit. Even though Ricciardo was forced to retire from the first Eurocup race on Saturday after technical trouble hit him in the installation lap and finished outside the podium in Sunday’s race, he is still leading the championship standings, all be it together with his SG Formula team mate Andrea Caldarelli now.
Daniel Ricciardo started the weekend in wet conditions, as Friday’s first Eurocup free practice session was held in rainy conditions. In order to give the 36 drivers enough space on the 4.180 kilometer long circuit, the starting field was separated over two groups. In the first session, Ricciardo set the second fastest time of his group. Some set-up changes in the second session didn’t exactly work out the way he wanted as he finished this 40 minutes session in fifth place. Together with his fellow double-header colleagues (Eurocup/WEC), Ricciardo was not allowed to run in the WEC free practice session, as organizers decided it would give them too much of an advantage over the other drivers.
After having finished the pre-qualifying in second place, Ricciardo was positive about his chances for the Superpole session, which was held in partly wet conditions. On the drying track he set the fastest laptime halfway the session, but wasn’t able to counter in the closing stages due to heavy traffic. With several drivers improving their lap times in their final lap, Ricciardo instead lost some ground. Eventually he qualified in fifth and third spot for Saturday’s and Sunday’s race. In his WEC campaign, Ricciardo was more successful as he scored a dominant pole position ahead of his Red Bull-colleague Jean-Eric Vergne.
Two hours before the start of the opening Eurocup race on Saturday afternoon, a delegation of Renault Sport employees checked Ricciardo’s engine and discovered a problem with it which they expected would lead to an engine failure during the race. The SG Formula squad succeeded in their efforts to change the engine in time for the first race, but in the installation lap towards the grid, Ricciardo experienced a technical problem which prevented him from starting the race.
At the start of Sunday’s second race, Ricciardo had some wheel spin coming off the line and dropped three positions in the opening lap. On from this sixth position, Ricciardo soon got back to grips with his car but fortunately wasn’t able to make up any ground during the race. The points he inherited with his sixth finishing position proved valuable however. Andrea Caldarelli drew level on points with Ricciardo at the top of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 drivers standings.
Sunday’s only WEC race for this weekend was held in wet conditions. Ricciardo initially lost his lead to Jean-Eric Vergne in the rundown to the first corner, but soon recovered. After a breathtaking fight for the lead, in which the both of them went side-by-side throughout several corners, Ricciardo got back in the lead and cruised to victory afterwards. In the WEC championship standings, Ricciardo is in firm lead with still four rounds to go.
“We have experienced quite some ups and downs this weekend. We lost ground in the Eurocup, but I can’t blame myself or anyone else for that. The technical trouble we hit on Saturday was related to the unexpected engine change. All the guys at SG Formula worked really hard this weekend, and such things can happen. I was a bit unlucky during my getaway in the second race and simply couldn’t find a way through anymore after that. With only two rounds to go (Estoril and Barcelona) I will be working hard to get back to the winning stroke. Luckily I was more fortunate in this weekend’s WEC round. In Estoril and Barcelona we will again have a double-header, so I’m very eager to prepare myself well for these two events!”
Though Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) was extremely eager to get back to business after the summer break, the SG Formula driver experienced quite some difficulties in this weekend’s fourth round of the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 at the Nürburgring (Germany). After being forced to sit out Friday’s first free practice session, the Red Bull junior driver simply could not get to grips with his car and the German Grand Prix track in time for Saturday’s qualifying session. In Saturday’s opening race however, Ricciardo drove an incredible race in which he worked himself up to 3rd position at the finish. On Sunday, Ricciardo finished in fifth position.
As Ricciardo made an one-off excursion to last month’s Formula 3 Euro Series round at the Nürburgring, he was forced to sit out Friday’s first free practice session as a penalty for having a supposed advantage over the other competitors. With only 40 minutes of free practice available for him, the current championship leader tried to make the best out of the situation but found time too short to be well prepared for Saturday’s qualifying session. Even though Ricciardo still ended the session in fourth position, he felt he was too far off the pace compared with his main title rivals.
Together with his SG Formula team, Ricciardo made some adjustments to his car’s set-up ahead of Saturday’s qualifying, improved his lap times, but still was not able to make a fist against Valtteri Bottas, Roberto Merhi and Andrea Caldarelli during the Superpole session. For Saturday’s opening race, Ricciardo eventually claimed the seventh starting position, for Sunday’s second race he took the fifth grid position.
With the F3 racing experiences still fresh in mind, Ricciardo decided to attack in the opening stages of Saturday’s 13-lap race. That proved to be the right call as he gained four positions in the Mercedes Arena in the first lap. On from that moment, the Perth-born driver tried to chase Roberto Merhi and Valtteri Bottas but soon had to acknowledge that both of them were too quick for him this time around. Therefore Ricciardo set his sight on retaining his podium position (P3) and still scoring many valuable points. With higher hopes for Sunday’s second race, Ricciardo was very keen to translate his fifth starting position in an even better finishing result. But as most of the drivers also behaved more aggressively than the day before, the Red Bull junior driver could not improve his position during the course of the 13-lap race and finished the weekend in fifth position.
“This might have been one of my worst weekends so far this season, but still to finish one race at the podium and to retain my championship lead gives me a lot of confidence for the near future. Next week I can take another shot at success at the famous Le Mans track, our fifth round of the season. As this will be the home race of my SG Formula team, I’m very much looking forward to it. I think we will be very competitive here again and I’m very eager to get back to the top step of the podium!”
01. Roberto Merhi (ESP), Epsilon Euskadi 2, 13 laps, 27:44.596 02. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Motopark Academy, + 01.387s 03. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, + 03.882s
01. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Motopark Academy, 13 laps, 27:43.851 02. Roberto Merhi (ESP), Epsilon Euskadi 2, + 08.019s 03. Andrea Caldarelli (ITA), SG Formula, + 09.475s 05. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, + 13.569s
Daniel Ricciardo was not given the chance to shine in Sunday’s annual held ‘RTL GP Masters of F3’ in Zolder. At the rain-hit Belgium track, the Australian driver was forced to retire in the opening lap of the prestigious 28-lap race which is often referred to as the unofficial Formula 3 World Championship. In his second Formula 3 outing, the SG Formula driver didn’t exactly have luck on his side this weekend. After a disappointing performance in qualifying, Ricciardo got involved in a pile-up in the first chicane, spun and got hit from behind by two other cars.
After having made an impressive Formula 3 debut a fortnight ago at the Nürburgring (Germany), Ricciardo felt positive about his chances in this weekend’s ‘RTL GP Masters of F3’ event. In the first out of two rain-soaked free practises on Friday morning, Ricciardo set the 14th fastest time. On from that moment however, it seemed all went in the wrong direction. With even heavier rainfall in the afternoon session, the Red Bull Junior Driver and his SG Formula Team made some wrong calls in terms of set-up adjustments that would affect the remainder of the entire weekend. In Saturday’s first qualifying session, Ricciardo clocked the 22nd fastest time out of the 37 participants from the F3 Euro Series and the British championship. This result meant Ricciardo just missed out on an entry in the Group A qualifying session, in which only the 20 overall fastest drivers are allowed to contest each other. Instead he was promoted to the Group B qualifying session and had to settle for the 27th grid position for Sunday’s 28-lap race.
“The weather and track conditions were far from ideal so far this weekend, but everyone had to cope with the same circumstances obviously. Apart from the Nürburgring event, I’m still pretty much inexperienced with the car and tyres. Therefore I think I even struggled a bit more than the other drivers. Having to line up 27th on the grid is far from where we want to be, but I hope we can turn the tide tomorrow.”
With over 23,000 spectators on the grandstands, Ricciardo was hopeful some adjustments to his car would allow him to charge hard in the wet conditions on race day. After a solid start, the Perth born driver however got caught up in a pile-up at the first chicane in the opening lap. With things getting very tight, Ricciardo did his utmost to stay out of trouble at the slippery 4,011 meter long track, but spun his car in an attempt to avoid contact with other drivers. Facing the wrong direction, Ricciardo was hit by two Ultimate Signature cars. As his car suffered too much damage, Ricciardo was forced to retire on the spot.
“A very disappointing end to an unfortunate weekend. I would have loved to set another impressive performance after my Nürburgring debut, but clearly this was just not meant to be this weekend… Hopefully I can get a better shot at success in next years events. I want to thank Red Bull and my team boss Stéphane Guérin for handing me these two opportunities. I will now start focussing on my Eurocup and Western European CUP (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 campaigns again, in which I lead both standings. I’m eager to get back to the winning life in our next World Series by Renault event at the Nürburgring at August 30/31!”
Daniel Ricciardo impressed many people in the Formula 3 Euro Series paddock this weekend with an outstanding debut performance. In order to prepare well for the upcoming ‘Masters of Formula 3’ at Zolder (BEL), the Red Bull Junior Driver was given the chance to make a one-off appearance in this weekend’s sixth round of the 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series at the Nürburgring with SG Formula. Without conducting any test prior to this race meeting, the current Eurocup and Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 championship leader showed to be immediately on the pace. In qualifying, Ricciardo equalled his team’s best result by setting the eighth fastest time. A remarkable sixth position in Saturday’s opening race was followed by another magnificent drive on Sunday.
With am eight week break between his last Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 races in Hungary and the next event in Germany half August, Red Bull made Ricciardo an offer he simply couldn’t refuse: to participate in the sixth round of the Formula 3 Euro Series at the Nürburgring and the ‘Masters of F3’ in Zolder. Without any possibility to test prior to this weekend’s races at the Nürburgring, Ricciardo had a hard day of work ahead of him before starting Thursday’s double free practise session. The Perth-born driver didn’t exactly had luck on his side. A technical problem in the first session allowed him to only run in the afternoon session. Ricciardo spend his time well though by getting acquainted with the car, team and 3,629 meter long circuit.
In Friday’s third free practise session, Ricciardo showed steady signs of improvement. On used tyres the SG Formula driver set the 21st quickest time out of all 30 drivers, while many were already equipped with a new set of rubber. In the 30 minute qualifying session later that day, Ricciardo proved once again he is one of the most promising formula drivers of the moment. On new tyres, Ricciardo put in a near-perfect lap to clock the 8th fastest lap time. Not only did he out qualify his more experienced team mates, he also equalled SG Formula’s best qualifying result this year!
As both Christian Vietoris (pole position) and James Jakes (P6) stalled at the start of Saturday’s opening race, Ricciardo was handed the sixth position in the first few metres of the 29 lap race. Even though the Australian driver pushed hard to try to gain even more positions, he soon found out that the F3 Euro Series is really the top level of single seater formulas for young guns like himself. Ricciardo managed to stay close to Renger van der Zande ahead of him, but was given no chance to overtake him. The both of them gradually created a gap to the drivers behind them. Eventually he finished his debut race in a remarkable sixth position! Sunday’s race turned out to be more like a rollercoaster ride for the quick rookie. Having lined up 3rd at the grid, Ricciardo stalled his engine at the start and fell back to the bottom of the pack. But a consistent and faultless drive combined with steady overtaking manoeuvres, saw him quickly recover during the 28 lap race. As several other drivers made some mistakes as well, Ricciardo crossed the finish line in 15th spot.
01. Nico Hülkenberg (GER), ART Grand Prix, 29 laps, 41:11.039 02. Jules Bianchi (FRA), ART Grand Prix, + 06.748s 03. Tom Dillmann (FRA), Jo Zeller Racing, + 09.047s 06. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, + 23.337s
01. Jon Lancaster (GBR), ART Grand Prix, 28 laps, 40:40.779 02. Niall Breen (IRL), Manor Motorsport, + 00.723s 03. Jules Bianchi (FRA), ART Grand Prix, + 02.008s 15. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, + 24.621s
Once again, there was no limit on Daniel Ricciardo in this weekend’s third round of the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. With two pole positions and two wins, the SG Formula driver enjoyed a perfect weekend at the Hungaroring circuit near Budapest (HUN). The Red Bull junior driver again extended his lead in the championship with a record fourth victory out of the six races held so far this season. With a total of 77 points, Ricciardo has already built up quite a gap to the runner-up, his team mate Andrea Caldarelli, who has 58 points.
It didn’t took Daniel Ricciardo long to get acclimatised to the 4,381 meter long circuit which is located in the small suburban town of Mogyoród. Even though it was his first visit to the twisty and hilly circuit, the rookie driver was immediately on the pace in Thursday’s and Friday’s free practise session. As his SG Formula team was a bit more experienced at the Hungaroring, Ricciardo lead the pack on from the first session.
Also in qualifying, Ricciardo showed to be the man to beat in this year’s Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 campaign. By setting the fastest and second-fastest lap in Saturday’s Superpole session, the Australian ace clinched pole position for both Saturday’s and Sunday’s race.
The only moment of the weekend, Ricciardo was challenged by his opponents was at the start of the first race on Saturday afternoon. As both Caldarelli and Ricciardo enjoyed a good start of the race, the pair went side by side through the first few corners. Ricciardo however confidently took the lead and as the race progressed only got better. With Caldarelli being busy holding of Spanish driver Roberto Merhi for second position, Ricciardo was able to create a comfortable gap of five seconds at the end of the race.
Having started once again from pole position in Sunday’s race, Ricciardo set the pace and immediately pulled away. Behind him, Caldarelli and Tobias Hegewald completed the podium in 2nd and 3rd position. With his clean-sweep this weekend, Ricciardo further confirmed his championship ambitions especially as one of his mail rivals this season, Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, didn’t score any points this weekend.
+VIEW MORE PHOTOS
Daniël Ricciardo completely blew away the competition in this weekend’s third round of the Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 in Valencia. Not only did the Red Bull Junior driver won both races with an astonishing lead over his 34 competitors, he also set the fastest lap time in both race heats, qualifying and all three free practise sessions! The SG Formula driver now firmly leads the current championship standings.
After having completed a successful pre-season test at the Spanish 4.051 kilometre long track in March of this year, Daniël Ricciardo already cherished some good memories from the twisty MotoGP circuit and had high expectations for this third round of the WEC. He lived up on it on from the very first moment: in all three free practise sessions on Thursday and Friday, Ricciardo set the benchmark and dominantly topped the timesheets. No wonder, the Australian ace also clinched two comfortable pole positions for both races on Saturday morning. That his SG Formula team clearly had found the ‘sweet spot’ with their set-ups was illustrated in the outcome of both sessions. The front two starting rows were for 75% occupied with SG Formula drivers (Ricciardo, Caldarelli, and Vergne).
In both races on Saturday and Sunday, Ricciardo made it perfectly clear that he wouldn’t take less than victory. After two spot-on race starts, the WEC championship leader immediately created a gap to the drivers behind him. Again, Ricciardo proved to be able to set consistent quick lap times which gave him a dominating lead over his rivals. In Saturday’s first race, Ricciardo finished six seconds clear of local hero Roberto Merhi (ESP), and on Sunday afternoon the Perth born driver even upped his game in order to realise a stunning 16(!) seconds lead over his team mate Andrea Caldarelli.
“It was a perfect weekend for me, being the quickest driver in all outings here in Valencia. Congratulations and many thanks to all our guys at SG Formula, they gave me a brilliant car all weekend. Some might think both races might have been boring for me, but I enjoyed them massively. Each time I passed our crew at the start/finish and saw the pit board with the increasing gap I pulled, I only got more eager to extend my lead. I really like the Valencia circuit, it is definitely one of my favourites.”
SILVERSTONE, JUNE 08 2008 - Daniël Ricciardo got a great applause today from the 70.000 large British crowd after taking a memorable win in Sunday's fourth round of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship at Silverstone. After having chased Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas for 15 laps, the Australian ace made his move in the final lap with only four corners to go. By scoring another victory today and finishing in 4th position in Saturday's race, both Ricciardo and his SG Formula team firmly lead both the drivers and constructors standings. FREE PRACTISES AND QUALIFYINGAs the second race meeting of the World Series by Renault weekends was on new soil, the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 teams were granted four free practise sessions on Thursday and Friday in order to get acclimatised with the Silverstone track, home of the British Formula One Grand Prix. Daniël Ricciardo used these sessions to learn the track and gradually get up to speed. In three out of the four sessions, the Red Bull Junior driver finished in third position, close behind his championship rivals Valtteri Bottas and Roberto Merhi. After having set the 2nd fastest time in the regular qualifying session on Saturday morning, Ricciardo suffered some difficulties in the Superpole session. As all drivers only had time for one stint in which they had to set their ultimate qualifying time, Ricciardo was hindered by yellow flags. As he was not able to get the maximum out of his Michelin tyres afterwards, Ricciardo had to settle for P6 and P3 for respectively Saturday's and Sunday's race. RACE 01 + 02 As British driver Dean Smith was disqualified after qualifying, Ricciardo was promoted to the fifth slot at Saturday's grid. On from this position, Ricciardo enjoyed a great start and was able to overtake his team mate Jean Eric Vergne halfway the opening lap. Though the Perth born driver was quicker than Andrea Caldarelli and Robert Merhi, who were both driving ahead of him, Ricciardo was not able to overtake them anymore during the remainder of the race and finally finished the 15-lap race in 4th position. Having started from the second row, things looked more promising on Sunday morning as Ricciardo overtook Caldarelli immediately after the starting lights were switched off. But Valtteri Bottas was not to be underestimated. In the final stages of the race, Ricciardo really tried everything in order to pass the Motopark Academy driver but seemed not to be able to get through until the very last lap. With only four corners to go, Ricciardo dived into the inside of Bottas while entering ‘Farm' corner and took the lead. As Bottas was given no chance to counter in the final four turns, Ricciardo could climb up the top step of the podium again for already the third time in this years Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 campaign!
DANIËL RICCIARDO: "What an amazing race and result! I was so eager to win the race but Bottas was really strong here this weekend. In the final stages of the race he made no mistakes. Our fight was so exciting, I held my breath for those final two laps! When I finally made my move, I was confident it would work out perfectly. I've never enjoyed the taste of champagne so much in my career before!"
RESULTS RACE 01 EUROCUP FORMULA RENAULT 2.0 - SILVERSTONE 07.06.200801. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Motopark Academy, 15 laps, 27:03.61702. Andrea Caldarelli (ITA), SG Formula, + 12.674s03. Roberto Merhi (ESP), Epsilon Euskadi 2, + 14.439s04. Daniël Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, + 14.633s RESULTS RACE 01 EUROCUP FORMULA RENAULT 2.0 - SILVERSTONE 08.06.200801. Daniël Ricciardo (AUS), SG Formula, 15 laps, 27:15.38802. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Motopark Academy, + 00.393s03. Andrea Caldarelli (ITA), SG Formula, + 09.768s
Daniël Ricciardo displayed another impressive performance today by winning the first race of the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. At the Belgian Grand Prix circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, the Australian driver outclassed his team mate Andrea Calderelli and Valtteri Bottas. For Sunday’s second race, the SG Formula driver aims to increase his championship lead over his main rivals.
Though having missed pole position for today’s first race by just 0.1 seconds to Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, Ricciardo was still very happy with his performance in today’s Superpole session. Starting from the second starting position, the Australian ace had a great start of the race. After chasing Bottas for half a lap, Ricciardo already took control before the end of the first lap. He finished the first lap in the lead of Bottas, Caldarelli, Costa, Faccin, Vergne, Quaife-Hobbs, Ramos and Zampieri.
On from that moment Ricciardo controlled the race over the entire 12 laps in which his position was never seriously challenged by Calderelli, who finished in second position. The SG Formula duo also build up an impressive gap of almost 12 seconds to third placed Valtteri Bottas. By taking the chequered flag in first position the Red Bull junior driver now also leads this highly regarded championship.
“It was an advantage to start from the front row, no doubt. The Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 is such a competitive series, that I’m really proud and happy with scoring my maiden victory in this series. Tomorrow I’ll also start from second position, so I hope I can get on the top step of the podium once again!” RESULTS RACE 01 EUROCUP FORMULA RENAULT 2.0 – SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS 03.05.2008 01. DANIËL RICCIARDO (AUS), SG FORMULA, 12 LAPS, 28:09.315 02. Andrea Caldarelli (ITA), SG Formula, + 02.811s 03. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Motopark Academy, + 14.692s 04. Daniel Zampieri (ITA), BVM Minardi, + 15.920s 05. Albert Costa (ESP), Epsilon Euskadi, + 16.764s
News and photos are presented by Insight F1 Motorsport Report. For further information and/or images please contact Jeroen Vermeeren (+31 621 541 564, media@insightf1.com. For management enquiries please contact Marco Zecchi (+39 335 615 841, zecchi@abanet.it).
After having won the first round of the 2008 Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 yesterday, Australian driver Daniël Ricciardo was less fortunate but not less impressive today in Nogaro. The Red Bull backed driver, who qualified in pole position for this second race of the season, stalled his engine on the grid. Determined as ever, Ricciardo turned back the tide during the race though. After having dropped back 20 positions at the start, the SG Formula driver recovered quickly and regained as many positions as possible during the 25 minute race in order to eventually finish in fifth(!) position.
Next stop for Ricciardo is the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona (Spain) where Australia’s new rising star is scheduled to participate in this week’s collective Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 test.
“After Sunday’s success, I have a bit of mixed emotions about my performance today. As I simply did not keep my engine revs up as much as I should have done, I stalled my engine at the start. During the race I regained as many positions as possible and nearly finished on the podium again. My car felt great, so I really have to thank all the guys at SG Formula for their hard work this weekend. It’s a shame I lost the lead in the championship today because of this error, but I’m sure we’ll have plenty new shots at success soon!”
Daniël Ricciardo had to settle for fourth position in Sunday’s second round of the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault, after he got tangled up in the usual first lap chaos. Even though the Australian ace cherished higher hopes for the second race after scoring his maiden win in this highly regarded series on Saturday, the SG Formula driver is still happy with his overall performance this weekend. By adding another eight points to his tally on Sunday morning, Ricciardo has strengthened his championship lead over his main rivals before leaving the Belgian Ardennes.
Having started from second position, the Red Bull junior driver got tangled up in the Les Combes chicane in the first lap and was forced to take a leap over the grass to avoid contact with other competitors. After having rejoined in sixth position, Ricciardo immediately started to charge the drivers ahead of him. In the final stages of the 11 lap race, Ricciardo became the ‘man of the match’ as he not only moved his way up to 4th position but also launched a series of attacks at Daniel Zampieri in 3rd place. Ricciardo was keen to pass the Italian, but the latter managed to hold him off, not making the slightest mistake. Ricciardo took enormous risks, especially at the La Source hairpin and in the daunting Eau Rouge corner, but eventually had to settle for fourth at the finish, behind race winner Paul Meijer, Cesar Ramos and Daniel Zampieri.
In the overall standings Ricciardo now leads with 22 points above Zampieri (18 points) and Ramos (17 points).
“I’m happy with where we are, both in terms of speed as referring to our championship position. Though I really wanted to win again today, I’m satisfied with this result. As we approached the first chicane with three cars side by side, things could have ended a bit nastier as it did now. Next stop is Dijon (FRA), our second race meeting for the Western European Cup Formula Renault 2.0 next weekend. I hope I can get on the top step of the podium once again there!”
Australian driver Daniël Ricciardo has set himself high goals for this weekend’s Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 season opener at Nogaro (France). Together with his SG Formula team, the Red Bull junior driver aims at a podium finish after having displayed a series of strong performances in pre-season testing.
2008 is going to be a busy and challenging year for Australia’s rising star in motor racing. After having made his debut in single seaters last year, Ricciardo enters both the Western European Cup Formula Renault 2.0 as well as the highly regarded Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 this season. Both series will have around 40 cars on the grid each event. The Formula Renault series has proven to be a springboard for a successful career. Among many others, Kimi Raikkonen (2007 Formula One World Champion) has followed this route to get to the pinnacle of motorsport.
Over the last few weeks, Daniël Ricciardo enjoyed a good preparation for his 2008 campaign in winter testing. At the collective Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 test in Valencia last month, the 18-year old driver from Perth topped the timesheets, while he completed the official WEC Formula Renault 2.0 test in Nogaro earlier this week in second position. No wonder, the Red Bull backed driver has high hopes for his second motorsport season in Europe.
“I’m 100% ready for the new season. The team and I enjoyed some good results in winter testing and right now we’re fully focussed on continuing these performances in our races. Though I realise the level of the competition in both series is very high and the races will be action-packed with so many entrants, I’m confident that we will be among the frontrunners. For the WEC Formula Renault 2.0 season opener this weekend, I’m definitely targeting a podium finish.”
News and photos are presented by Insight F1 Motorsport Report. For further information and/or images please contact Jeroen Vermeeren (+31 621 541 564, media@insightf1.com. For management enquiries please contact Marco Zecchi (+39 335 615 841, zecchi@abanet.it)
Daniël Ricciardo maximised his performance in this weekend’s second round of the Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 in Dijon by scoring two convincing wins. The Australian driver has also now taken over the lead in the championship standings from his SG Formula team mate Andrea Caldarelli.
FREE PRACTISE & QUALIFYING Even though Ricciardo had never driven on the fast French circuit before, he quickly got to grips with the 3.801 kilometre long track. Already in Friday’s free practise session, the Red Bull Junior Driver set the pace while completing his programme ahead of the double qualifying session.
The competitiveness of the WEC Formula Renault 2.0 field was once again proved in Friday afternoon’s first qualifying session. After being quickest in free practise, Ricciardo had to settle for P3 for Saturday’s first race after missing out on pole position with a margin of only 0,003 seconds! In Saturday morning’s second qualifying session, Ricciardo bounced back by setting the fastest lap time and claiming pole position for Sunday’s race.
RACE 01 & 02 Eager to fight his way back to the front, Ricciardo enjoyed a good start in Saturday afternoon’s race but could not gain any positions in the early stages of the 16-lap race. Midway the race though, the Australian ace was able to gain a bit more speed and overtake Alberto Costa for second position. After that, Ricciardo charged hard to overtake Roberto Merhi, and successfully made his move three laps before the end of the race. By winning the race ahead of the Epsilon Euskadi duo and his team mate Andrea Caldarelli, Ricciardo also took over the lead in the current championship standings from Caldarelli.
On Sunday afternoon things only got better for Ricciardo. After having started from pole position, the Perth-born racer drove a straight forward race and easily managed to create a two seconds gap over his competitors and cruise to another dominating victory. Meaningless to say, that Ricciardo also increased his championship lead over his main rivals and is now ‘the man to beat’ for his colleagues!
“Another weekend to cherish. I want to thank everyone at SG Formula for doing a superb job. The car felt great the entire weekend. It’s nice to lead both the WEC and Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 standings now, but I realise that there are many more races to come in which we have to work very hard to continue our success. Nevertheless, I’m very pleased with how things are going at the moment. I’m more motivated than ever to train even harder in order to get ready for our next race in Silverstone.”
Australian driver Daniël Ricciardo enjoyed two productive testing days with his SG Formula team during this week’s third collective Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 test at Spa-Francorchamps. At the Belgian Grand Prix circuit, the 18-year old driver from Perth, Western Australia, especially focussed on improving his car set-up. In wet conditions Ricciardo again topped the timesheets on Thursday morning before finishing the test in fourth position overall.
As SG Formula has not been in action at the legendary 7,004 meter long track since 2004, the team could not fall back on previous data and experiences with last year’s introduced new body kit. Therefore all SG Formula drivers put in a lot of track time to get the set-ups right in both dry and damp conditions. Not without results. After the first day was dominated by Motopark Academy driver Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Ricciardo shared the top position with his team colleague Andrea Caldarelli (ITA) at the second and final day.
The next Eurocup Formula Renault collective testing sessions will be held at the Paul Ricard HTTT on April 20-21.
“I think we can look back at a constructive outing. As a team we learned a lot these two days and improved our performances quite much. At a dry track I still struggled a bit finding the speed, but I have to add that a red flag situation stopped me from improving my lap time in the final afternoon session. For SG Formula it’s good to have two of their drivers on top again. It confirms that our hard work has paid off and at the same time it’s a moral boost for everyone in the team.
Daniël Ricciardo got off to a great start of his Western European Formula Renault 2.0 season, by scoring a convincing win at Nogaro today. After having started from pole position, the Australian ace swapped places twice with his SG Formula team mate Andrea Caldarelli in the opening lap of the 25 minute race, before retaking the lead for the remainder of this first race of the season.
Though Ricciardo enjoyed quite a good start when the starting lights turned off, his Italian team mate Andrea Calderelli managed to get the better out of the two at the start. After Caldarelli passed him in the first corner, Ricciardo tailed his SG Formula colleague closely through the next couple of turns before making his move at the back straight that same lap. As Ricciardo got a better exit out of the corner before the back straight, he was able to retake the lead by out braking Caldarelli into the tight hairpin. Back in front, Ricciardo build up a comfortable three seconds gap in the following laps, stayed out of trouble and collected a well-deserved win. Andrea Caldarelli and Roberto Merhi finished in second and third position respectively.
Things look bright for the Red Bull junior driver tomorrow too, as he claimed pole position for Monday’s second race of the weekend as well.
“What a fantastic way to start the season! First of all, I want to thank everyone in the team for providing me with such a great car. I’m eager to make it two out of two tomorrow, as I’m again on pole position for our second race. With one win already under my belt. I have even more confidence in another good outcome. Hopefully I can nail it at the start this time and drive it home in P1 again!”
Australian driver Daniël Ricciardo has boosted his start of his 2008 campaign by claiming pole position for Sunday’s Western European Cup (WEC) Formula Renault 2.0 first race of the season. The Red Bull Junior driver unsurprisingly emerged as fastest in today’s 20-minute qualifying session after also having set the second fastest time in Friday’s free practise session.
Unlike the pre-event test at the twisty Nogaro track earlier this week, both yesterday’s free practise session and today’s qualifying session were held in wet conditions. It did not bother Ricciardo though. The SG Formula driver showed impressive speed at both a dry and wet track this week. Friday’s free practise session saw Ricciardo just missing out on P1 as he was marginally outpaced by Spanish driver Roberto Merhi in the final stage of the 60-minute session. Ricciardo turned things around though in today’s qualifying session which decided the grid for tomorrow afternoon’s season opener. By edging out Roberto Merhi and Richard Campollo, Australian’s new rising star positioned himself in the best possible way for a prosperous start of the season.
“I’m happy to be on pole for tomorrow’s first race of the season. In qualifying I managed to get into a good rhythm straight away and set some fast laptimes early in the session. As the season is going to be long, the most important thing is to push hard to maximise our performance once again tomorrow. I realise life will be easier if I manage to pull a gap straight from the start, so that’s exactly what I’m aiming at!”
Australian driver Daniël Ricciardo has confirmed his impressive early season form once again by setting the fastest lap time in this week’s Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 test in Barcelona. The Red Bull junior driver enjoyed two constructive days at the Spanish Grand Prix track in which he and his SG Formula team completed a busy programme.
With the track conditions changing a lot during the two testing days, Ricciardo and his experienced French outfit tried out many different settings and gained valuable information on how to make even better use of new tyres. Ending also the second collective series’ test on top, was the icing on the cake. Pre-season Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 testing resumes next week at Belgian F1 circuit of Spa-Francorchamps.
“I’m happy to have enjoyed another good test and result in Barcelona. Thumbs up for all the guys from SG Formula for their great effort. With the experiences and data gained this week, I’m sure we’ll be in good shape for both the Eurocup and Western European Cup races here later this season. Now we’re heading to Spa-Francorchamps, definitely one of the most exciting circuits in the world. I raced their last year and it is a circuit I enjoy very much so I am looking forward to returning!”
Website Design and Development by WOOCOM (Perth, Australia)
