Trident Racing`s weekend at Magny-Cours started with a troubled qualifying session: Pastor Maldonado and Kohei Hirate ended up respectively in 7th and 22nd place. The Venezuelan`s runs were conditioned by gearbox problems while downshifting, even though the placement scored at the end of the day doesn`t rule out a possible fight for a podium finish tomorrow. Japanese Kohei Hirate wasn`t able to enter the top-20, reporting handling problems on his Dallara.
Pastor Maldonado - 7th place (1:22.551, 15 laps) “My weekend started in a positive way, as I managed to enter the top positions in practice while keeping a very reasonable margin. Unfortunately, in Qualifying I suffered from gearbox problems. Even though conditions were different, I think to have found a good set-up; I`m looking forward to tomorrow`s Race: the track is long, and an efficient pit strategy will make a difference. My goal is to score as many points as I can”.
Kohei Hirate - 22nd place (1:23.461, 14 laps) “Today`s final result wasn`t positive at all. I don`t think the car has such big problems, but I simply cannot find the feeling I`m looking for when I push to the limit. In qualifying I improved my practice time a lot, but the starting point was too far back. My goal for tomorrow is to avoid mistakes and try to learn more on my car”.
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