Photo by: GP3 Series Media Service
The sixth round of the 2012 GP3 Series took place last weekend at the Hungaroring circuit, near Budapest. The Hungarian weekend of the series has been pretty intense and, once again, the weather conditions were extremely variable making it an hard life for teams and drivers.
The balance of the weekend hasn't been one of the best so far for Trident Racing, but both the team and their racers have nothing to be blamed for.In Race 2, Venturini had solid chances to fight for victory when he was stopped by a faulty engine sensor. It's been a really issue, but its consequences conditioned the team's outcome for the weekend.
Vicky Piria started her weekend in the toughest possible way as she was prevented to complete her usual preparations due to the crash happened in Hockenheim. Her laptimes were constantly improving though, and she learned a new racetrack,a valuable experience when she'll come back to the Hungaroring.
Trident Racing and its drivers will be now off to a long summer break. The GP3 Series will be back on-track at Spa-Francorchamps on the first weekend of September.
Giovanni Venturini
“My weekend at Budapest did not start in the best possible way. We did not perform well in practice, and after the session we radically changed the car's set-up to try find new solutions. In qualifying things started to go better, but then the real problem was traffic: in the last corner before the front straight, Buller made a block on me and my chances to get a top laptime just disappeared. “I started in 14th, but my pace in Race 1 proved quite good. Unfortunately, on a track like Budapest, where passing is almost impossible, a bad starting position can disrupt a whole weekend. Right before Race 2 we had a great chance to turn tables. The rain just stopped, but in the recognition lap I saw that there were plenty of dry patches and so we decided to go with slick tires. The first few laps have been difficult, I was in a 3-car pack with Brundle and Niederhauser in front of me. When the track started to dry out, I passed Brundle and I was trying to get Felix Da Costa when a fuel pressure sensor broke and the engine shut off.“It's a pity, I had second place in my pocket, because in the end it's been Niederhauser to get it, but I also could have had my say for win. I hope for more luck in the next couple of rounds at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza, two tracks that I know really well and where I already score some wins".
Vicky Piria
“In practice I've been among the first to be on-track because it was the first time for me at Budapest. The track was dirty but in the first few laps I was just a couple of tenths off the frontrunners. Then at the braking point for the chicane I went off and hit the front side of the runoff area, the part with the gravel. The stewards did not allow me out so my session ended right on the spot after just six laps. I did not have many reference points for qualifying. I eded up pushing too much and I made a mistake in turn 4 with the first set of tires. In addition to that, with the second set I had to battle with a lot of traffic and ended up in 25th. “In Race 1 I focused in having a clean run, and I got five spots back to 20th. But the laptimes I turned were the real reward, because we showed that without all the bad luck we could have been really close to the top-10. In Race 2 we gabled with the choice of slick tires. The first few laps have been tough because the track was still wet, but then the sun started drying out the asphalt and I recovered all the ground lost, enabling me to fight back to the 19th. I had never raced in these conditions and it's been a new and valuable experience. “My only regret is related to the fact that this track seemed to suit my driving style really well, and if I just had more time to prepare the results would have definitely been different. After the crash at Hockenheim I was forced to get a break and I went on-track in Hungary without being able to prepare with the simulator like in the other rounds".
Source: Trident Racing
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