The DAMS racing team have made improvements as they claimed a second podium in Austria and solved reliability issues.
Dan Ticktum made it two Sunday podiums in a row at the Red Bull Ring. He followed up his eighth-place finish in the Formula 2 feature race on Saturday with a great drive to take second in the sprint race.
The Brit qualified in 15th but climbed up to eighth in the wet conditions to take reverse grid pole. He then dropped one position in the sprint race to second but still claimed a second podium in as many weeks.
Ticktum said: “At the beginning it looked like we might be in for a difficult weekend. We weren’t there in qualifying but in race one I did exactly what I was set out to do, which was to get the reverse grid pole.
“I felt I drove well and the team made a good strategic call to pit me early and put me into clear air. In the sprint race, I couldn’t get the tyres up to temperature in the beginning, so we definitely need to be a bit more aggressive and put more energy through the tyres.
“Pretty much every lap I did on Sunday was within a tenth and I was right on the limit. I think if we do some work over the next few days, we’ll be able to challenge for victories.”
Sean Gelael claimed a double-points finish climbing up to tenth in the feature race and seventh in the sprint race.
The Indonesian driver qualified behind his teammate in 16th and finished the feature race in tenth, claiming a point. He fought through in the feature race, spending most of it fighting with Jack Aitken to finish in seventh.
Gelael said: “I’m happy with this weekend. We did two races without any technical difficulties, so we’re really pleased with that.
“Friday started off on the backfoot compared to last week, as we didn’t quite expect what the supersoft and medium tyres would be like, resulting in a disappointing qualifying. The team rallied together to get the car prepared for Saturday and I could have been where Dan was in the opener.
“We were back in the points with both cars and had a good pace, even though this was my first full race of the year. We came back with another couple of points in the sprint race, which I’m delighted with.”
Francois Sicard, Managing Director at Dams, said: “It was a roller coaster weekend at the Red Bull Ring. Since the first round, we worked hard to ensure Sean didn’t get another technical issue, and it was good to see that the car was reliable.
“The 18-inch wheels meant the tyre characteristics were a lot different from in the past, so we didn’t get the most out of qualifying. Both Sean and Dan drove a great comeback in the feature race though to both get in the points, and it could have been two DAMS cars on the front row.
“Both drivers also managed points in the sprint race and we weren’t too far off victory with Dan, who scored his second podium in four races, which is very encouraging. We know what we need to work on ahead of Budapest, so we’re looking forward to hopefully scoring more points.”
DAMS will be hoping that next weekend they can improve once again when Formula Two returns next weekend in Hungary.
*Image Credit: LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship
