Both Trident Racing cars took the checkered flag in the second race of the GP2 Mains Series race at Magny Cours. Weather played an important role today, as all the teams were forced to make an initial tire choice on variable conditions. Mike, who started on rain tires, was forced to stop and switch to slicks like happened to all the other drivers on the same rubber. The Brit managed to end up into the points zone, making his way to 6th place. Ho Pin had an opposite choice, but paid the price of a set-up that didn`t match the on-track conditions. He had to content with 14th place.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Managing Director
“The early stages were heavily conditioned by weather today, altering the values shown during Race 1. In the pre-race, all the top-9 drivers opted to start on rain tires, as some wet was still present on both the braking zones and on the faster chicanes. The use of slick tires in that case was really risky, but in the end it paid off, as shown by all the top finishers. Mike ended up in 6th place, taking home points for the 6th straight time and showing an impressive pace by keeping among the fastest men on-track. After his pit-stop, he managed to control experienced Pastor Maldonado and, in the end, Lucas Di Grassi was the only wets-starter to stay in front of us. Ho Pin Tung had a rough day: we tried to conduct some set-up experiments for the next race, and it all didn`t work out right. I want to express my appreciation towards Charlie Whiting, who allowed teams to change tires on the grid after evaluating the situation in the installation laps. It was a good call, oriented to increase safety”.
Mike Conway
“My race was - of course - conditioned by the track`s conditions, as the choice to start on slicks proved to be the right one. All the top starters elected to take off on rain tires, and it would have been dangerous to differ while starting on pole. I managed to stay in the lead in the initial laps, until a pit-stop became necessary. I`m glad to have made it to the points zone, as I`m looking forward to my home race at Silverstone, hoping to have a good weekend there”.
Ho Pin Tung
“We had to make a bid at the start, and we made the right choice with slicks. Unfortunately, the modifications made to my set-up penalized me, especially in the initial damp track conditions. Something improved when it became to dry out, but it was too late to recover, and I couldn`t go beyond 14th place”.
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