Trident ends challenging day with top-10! 16.10.2022: It has been a challenging Saturday for Trident at Barcelona, as the team had to fight hard to secure a points finish in race 1. After the promising results achieved in testing on Friday, the start of Qualifying 1, scheduled for 9:00 AM was postpo

It has been a challenging Saturday for Trident at Barcelona, as the team had to fight hard to secure a points finish in race 1.


 
After the promising results achieved in testing on Friday, the start of Qualifying 1, scheduled for 9:00 AM was postponed by more than an hour due to a thick fog that wrapped the Montmeló circuit. The 35 drivers who entered the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine event drove together in a single session instead of being divided into two groups.
 


Leonardo Fornaroli was shining sightseeing on a foggy day as he remained in the leading positions for the whole 15 minutes. In the final stages, the 17-year-old Italian was forced to lift due to an off by another driver, which jeopardized a lap that could have put him on the front row. He finished with the fourth-fastest lap time instead. At the end of the session, the stewards analyzed the incident and, believing that he had not slowed down enough, canceled Fornaroli's best mark.




Fornaroli started from P7 but quickly moved up to fifth overall, first among the rookies, with a swift start. It was a tough day for Roman Bilinski and Tim Tramnitz. Both ended up on the dirt in turn 3, losing many positions. Bilinski managed to fight back up to 21st place, finishing ahead of Tramnitz, who was also slowed by front-wing damage caused by contact.



Fornaroli held fifth place for a long time, but in the final part of the race two competitors came up behind him with a stronger pace. Leonardo tried to hold on but pushed a bit too hard and ended up wide in turn 9, plummeting to P9 and P2 in class. However, Fornaroli held onto the rookie championship lead with a five-point margin.




Roman Bilinski: “Up and down today in Barcelona. In qualifying, I had a big improvement compared to yesterday. The car felt really good and also my lap was good, despite a little mistake at turn 4. It’s a bit of a shame what happened in the race, as I positioned my car wrong for turn 3, went wide, and lost twelve positions, which could have got me fighting for points. All I can say is I’m really sorry for the team, I’ll learn from that and I will not make it happen again. Full focus on tomorrow now”.




Tim Tramnitz: “Very disappointing day. It started already yesterday when we struggled quite a lot with new tires. Pace-wise, we got a lot closer compared to yesterday in qualifying 1, but P18 was not a good starting position for the race. In the first lap in turn 3, I ran a bit wide and lost many places. I tried to fight back but touched another car and lost my front wing endplate.


After that, it was just trying to hang on and make the best possible. The pace, even with the damage, was not so bad, and I passed a couple of guys who were struggling with the tires. Not a lot of positives to take from today. I will try to work with my engineer for tomorrow, and then we will see”.



Leonardo Fornaroli: “We achieved a great fourth place in qualifying, and while I lost my fastest lap, I started well from P7, moving up to P5 and the rookie lead immediately. I was managing the race quite well, but then I maybe exaggerated with my defense when two quicker drivers came up behind me. I lost ground, and while trying to resist on the outside, I went off track and lost the rookie lead. I’m sorry for the team, but I look forward to putting up a good showing in qualifying and race 2.”)

- Trident, photo Alpine