Australian Daniel Ricciardo has stormed to his third victory of the season in Round 12 of the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 season at Hockenheim, Germany today.
The 21-year-old Perth-born Formula One hopeful took a lights-to-flag victory with a commanding performance from pole position.
Ricciardo’s victory earned him 15 points, reducing the gap to championship leader Mikhail Aleshin to just two points with five races of the series remaining.
Following a dominant performance in qualifying this morning, Daniel lined up on pole. As the lights went out, the Red Bull Junior made a perfect start to lead the field into the first corner. While his rivals behind him squabbled for position, Ricciardo was able to complete the first lap without incident.
As the race unfolded, he settled into a steady rhythm with second placed man Esteban Guerrieri a safe distance behind. In a relatively uneventful race for the Australian, Ricciardo raced to victory nearly three seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
“This is a great way to comeback from the summer break,” he said.
“The car has felt good all weekend so thanks to the team for giving me such a good car. I made a good start and pulled away a little bit. After that I just concentrated on my own race. I didn’t push too hard towards the end as I didn’t want to make any mistakes.
“Now we have to concentrate on doing the same thing tomorrow.”
Ricciardo will return to the track for Round 13’s qualifying and race tomorrow.