The feature race of the GP2 Series weekend in Austria was completed yesterday at Red Bull Ring. As well as their competitors, the Trident team had to deal with extremely variable weather conditions. Just minutes before the arrival of the cars in the pit-lane, the sun was shining despite some light clouds, but the skies darkened not too much later with the rain eventually starting to come - the conditions turned out as the key variable for the race.
14 - PHILO PAZ ARMAND
The weather was also a defining element of Philo Armand’s race. Despite he was starting from the last spot, the Indonesian Trident driver managed to fight back right away, gaining several positions. Thanks to a great race pace, and lots of determination, Philo climbed up to the 15th position pulling some really good moves.The pressure provided by the rain and the many off-track exits then persuaded him to adopt a more careful and cautious approach. The slightly slower pace cost him some of the positions he had regained before.Unfortunately, the red flag situation jeopardized the final stint of the race of Armand, who mistakenly passed the safety-car at the beginning of the pit-lane. The infraction cost him a 10-second stop and go.
15 - LUCA GHIOTTO
The qualifying session held on Thursday showcased the skills of Luca Ghiotto, who cruised to a deserved fourth place meaning a spot on row 2. After a good start, the young Italian set a great race pace and held the position as he stayed close to the leading trio and managed to pull away from his followers.Running in uncertain weather, Luca showed great car management skills and continued to run without mistakes despite the fact that track was wet for three quarters and dry on the remaining part. Luca was called back to the pits during a safety-car situation and moved from Prime to Option tires. A huge crash involving championship leader Markelov led the stewards to red-flag the race due to some dangerous debris. Unfortunately, all the chaos didn’t favour the team’s strategy, but Luca re-started from the fifth position before ending up in P4.As said, it was a deserved result that brought Luca his first points of the season. Both the team and the drivers are already working hard to score their first podium finish of the year.
