Arden Motorsport made their return to the Nurburgring for Round 6 of the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Championship. Ticktum set the fastest time in his qualifying group, with his time putting himself 3rd overall on the starting grid for the first race of the weekend. Zane Goddard set the 6th fastest time in his qualifying group, meaning he would start the opening race from the outside of the sixth row in 12th position. Teammate Ghilsain Cordeel was in the same qualifying session as Goddard, setting the 16th fastest lap in his group.
At the start, Ticktum piled on the pressure to Max Defourney for 2nd positon - as they battled however, Sacha Fenestraz managed to pull off a move on the compromised Ticktum to demote him to 4th position. Ticktum struggled with grip for the opening laps of the race, but soon settled into a rhythmn. He fended off Rookie Championship rival Max Fewtrell as the race went on, defending robustly to protect his lead at the top of the Rookie Championship, whilst focussing on trying to catch his rivals for the overall podium.
Teammate Goddard has made good progress to get himself into the top ten and a points scoring position in the hugely competitive field. Cordeel had also risen up the field well, avoiding the trouble around him to gain nine positions.
At the checkered flag, Ticktum crossed the line in 4th position - just behind Fenestraz for the overall podium, however he was given a 5s time penalty for gaining an advantage by having to cut the circuit in his earlier battle with Fewtrell. This didn't lose him a position and he remained in 4th position, taking the Rookie victory in the process.
Goddard took the final points position in 10th and Cordeel crossed the line in 25th position.
Race two took place in wet conditions after an early downpour. Ticktum would start the race from 2nd position, Goddard in 15th and Cordeel from 32nd after experiencing issue in his second qualifying session.
On a soaked track, the opening three laps were run behind the safety
car. When the action began, Fenestraz just held on to the lead in front of Ticktum,who applied the pressure for the win.
The safety car was deployed after an accident behind caused the track to be cleared. Cordeel sadly dropped out of contention after five laps into the race after being caught up in the debris from the collision ahead.
Ticktum was on maximum attack on the restart, diving to the inside of Fenestraz for the lead - who just managed to resist his challenge and hold onto the lead as Ticktum locked a wheel and was unable to complete the overtake.
Red Bull Junior Ticktum held onto 2nd position at the flag, taking his third podium of the season and another Rookie victory to cement his strong position at the head of the Rookie Championship standings. Goddard managed to make good progress up to 11th position, just missing out on a double points finish this weekend, classified as the 5th best Rookie in the process.
After the Nurburgring round, Ticktum is 6th overall in the Driver's Championship standings and leading the Rookie Championship with a margin of 28 points to his nearest rival. Arden Motorsport are currently 4th overall in the Team's Championship in their maiden campaign in the championship.
Daniel Ticktum "Our pace was good for being a first time in the rain at the Nürburgring. We already saw at the Hungaroring that we do very well in these conditions. The next objective is to return to the podium at the Red Bull Ring.
Our testing at this circuit has given me confidence to finish on a high note this series of ring tracks that are among my favourite tracks on the calendar.”
The Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Championship now heads to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria for the next round of the championship in just one weeks time on the 22-23 July.