Qualifying on Wednesday was run in 2 groups as per practice and Ross’ half hour session later in the day ended with him posting a 1.27.810 which put him 3rd in his group and 7th overall. With the drivers divided into 4 groups, this put Ross on grid 4 for each of his 3 heats.

For Ross’ first 2 heats he maintained his starting position of 4th by the end of the race to finish in 4th, although both races were not without hard battles.

Heat 3 saw Ross again get a good start and on lap 2, he followed Huelkenburg, Urbano and Buemi three abreast in a slipstreaming battle down the back straight and, saw a gap as they all braked for the left-hander at the end and went for it. Ross emerged second and remained in this position until the finish. A delighted Ross said afterwards: “I’m very pleased we’ve managed to finish the day with a result like this. We’ve split the German Championship leaders and done a 1.27.473 – our fastest lap of the week so far.”

The points system put Ross on the third row for the Pre-Final. An excellent start saw him up to 4th by the time they came out of the first corner but on lap 3 whilst still in 4th he was touched from behind and pushed into the car in front which damaged his front wing. Ross finished the race 29th after pitting for a new front wing.

As the field assembled for the final, Ross found himself in 29th place - a part of the grid that he had never seen in before! BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen, wished him luck and said: “From back here, Ross, you have a real chance to demonstrate your race ability!”

And so it was to be…… After a storming first two laps, Ross was up to 18th with some breathtaking overtaking manoeuvres, his progress was then put on hold on lap 4 by the safety car which was brought out whilst debris was cleared from the last corner. The safety car came in on lap 10 then the leader Huelkenberg tried to close the field up before the start line and over-did it, causing a chain reaction which resulted in two cars in the barriers in front of the pits. This tested the ability of the Bahrain marshals to the limit and the safety car was brought out again by which time Ross was up to 10th, it was a further frustrating 8 laps before the cars were cleared. The restart was cleaner and Ross then began his charge again, taking Matt Howson on lap 20 and picking up two more places on the final two laps to finish 7th, just a tenth behind 5th and 6th, only 4 seconds behind 4th place Sam Bird who started 5th and only 16 seconds behind Huelkenberg, the winner.

So in just twelve racing laps (the other 13 being under the safety car), Ross had gained 22 places in what was one of the most phenomenal drives the formula has seen this year. “It’s been a thrilling race – just a shame I had to start from so far back!”, he said. “You can always think what might have been but that’s motor racing.”

“It’s been a great experience, however, and I’ve really enjoyed working with Andy and the boys at Nexa. I’ve proved now how quick I can be in a car that’s well set up and I thank them for giving me that chance. I’m also grateful to all those that came out from Salisbury to support me – I’m glad they had an entertaining last race!”

Ross’s finish also made him second Brit and his stunning performance from 29th to 7th helped clinch the Nations Cup for the UK Championship team – a feat he can be truly proud of!