Ricciardo pleased with ninth

23/09/2012

Mat Coch writes:

Daniel Ricciardo notched up his third points scoring finish of the season after securing ninth place in Singapore. The Toro Rosso driver had boldly targeted a points finish after practice, though he was forced to do it the hard way after qualifying just fifteenth.

For much of the race the Australian was outside the points until an early second stop before a long final stint paid dividends… thanks to the Safety Car.

"Obviously I had my hands full, particularly after the safety car," he said of his struggle on ageing tyres. "I gained a bit of track position but knew I had to hold on."

During the closing stages the man some believe will ultimately replace Mark Webber at Red Bull was forced to defend his more senior rival. Caught out by the safety car Webber was out of position and working his way through the field, though he hit a road block when confronted with the stubborn Ricciardo.

"It was a really nice way to end it," Ricciardo grinned. "Unfortunately I couldn't hold on to Massa but did my best to hold on to Senna and Webber and got rewarded with ninth.

"I was not looking in the mirrors too much. I was still doing decent laps, at least comparative to myself, just trying to match those and get to the end."

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