Trying times for Trident
Trident Motorsport endured a challenging Bahrain Feature Race on Sunday. Their cars finished outside the points as time penalties compounded the effects of their lowly grid positions.
Marino Sato managed to climb from 18th on the grid to 14th, while teammate Bent Viscaal dropped from 15th to 17th.
The Italian outfit had hoped for better after Sato achieved a points finish with seventh place in Saturday’s Sprint Race 2, bouncing back from a disappointing Sprint Race 1.
Team Manager Giacomo Ricci lamented Trident Motorsport’s Bahrain weekend;
“It has been a difficult weekend for Trident Motorsport. In the Feature Race, we were unable to repeat the positive result achieved in Sprint Race 2, when we claimed the first point of the season.”
Sato received a five-second penalty for a safety car infringement, while Viscaal received a ten-second penalty for a similar transgression.
These penalties removed any hope of recovering from the lower reaches of the grid to the points.
Despite making early progress on the quicker soft tyres, Viscaal’s strategy dropped him back down the order later on in the race.
Sato’s strategy proved to be more favourable, equipped with soft tyres after the late safety car period, having started on the hard tyres.
Ricci rued the missed opportunity:
“The strategy of starting with the ‘prime’ compound on Sato’s car could have been rewarding without the time penalty.”
Trident looking ahead to Round 2
Trident Motorsport will hope to carry the positives from the weekend through to Round 2 in Monaco.
Ricci emphasised the need to improve following the team’s inconsistent weekend;
“Now we have to work on the data collected ahead of the next event on the Monte Carlo street circuit in late May.”
The team can take heart from the flashes of strong pace shown by Sato.
Trident Motorsport will be anticipating an upturn in Viscaal’s form as the Dutch F2 rookie improves among a fiercely competitive grid.
Preventing a repeat of their Bahrain Qualifying woes will be critical to their performance around the narrow streets of Monte Carlo.
If the drivers address this and manage to avoid the wrath of the stewards, Trident Motorsport may yet stage a resurgence.
Credit: Trident Motorsport
