GP2 Series, Spa-Francorchamps, Feature Race report
Luca Ghiotto brought home a points finish in the Sprint Race at Spa-Francorchamps, while Philo Armand ended up 20th after being assessed a drive-through.
The challenging Spa-Francorchamps venue highlighted the skills of 21-year-old Luca Ghiotto. The Trident team lined-up in Belgium for the eight round of the GP2 Series, and the Italian racer put together a great recovery in the Feature Race. Taking-off from the 14th place on the grid, Ghiotto fought back to the seventh place. As happened in the previous round at Hockenheim, Luca showcased his passing ability. The result achieved was extremely important and will enable him to take-off from the front row of the sprint race in second place.
“We went for an early pit-stop on lap 8” - said the Veneto-based racer - “I managed to keep a great race pace, repeating the same comeback of the previous round in Germany. It’s a pity not to have been incisive in qualifying because a podium finish would have been in our frame”.
His front row position will provide him the chance of scoring good points in the sprint race so to continue in his chase for the front end of the points table. “I’m really happy to start from the front row tomorrow. The weather is the main variable but I’m sure we will be competitive on a wet track too. I’m looking forward to tomorrow”.
Lining-up together with his Italian team-mate, 20-year-old Philo Armand crossed the line in P20 after being assessed a jump start penalty. “Our race pace was good, but I made a mistake at the start and that forced me to come back to the pits. I will treasure this lesson for the future”.
One last note regards Ghiotto’s car. The nose cone of his Dallara was painted in black to show support for the people hit by the Italian earthquake. The whole Trident team stand close to the victims and their families.
GP2 Series, Spa-Francorchamps, Sprint Race report
Luca Ghiotto was once again among the frontrunners at Spa, grabbing his third podium finish of the season while team-mate Philo Armand scored a solid 19th place.
Luca Ghiotto scored a third place finish in the Sprint race held at the Ardennes forest track, capping a positive weekend for him with a great podium finish. Today’s result makes the young Italian, as well as the whole team, very confident i an equally positive result in the next round of the season scheduled for the next weekend at the home Monza circuit.
Starting from the second place on the grid, Ghiotto delivered a really convincing pace that enabled him to challenge for the runner-up spot before eventually settling for third. He also fended off the attacks of championship leader Pierre Gasly in the final part of the race.
“My start has not been particularly brilliant as I lost one spot straight away,” said the Vicenza-based racer, “From that point on I gave my 100 percent to keep the position and manage my tires as good as I could. Considering the degradation, I don’t know if I could have kept second anyway”.
For him and the team it’s now time to focus on racing in front of their home crowd. “Now we have to carry this momentum to Monza. Grabbing my first win in front of my fans would be super. We will do our best”. At the end of a solid race, Philo Armand took 19th place, finishing in the same lap of the leader.
