De Palo dominant at the Hungaroring: pole, victory and leadership
It was a terrific day for the Trident team in the Formula Regional European by Alpine championship. On the Hungaroring circuit near Budapest, home to the fourth round of the season, Matteo De Palo literally dominated: pole position in qualifying 1 and a triumphant victory in the first race. De Palo had no rivals, perfectly managing the race despite two safety carperiods that destroyed the advantage gained lap after lap over the second-placed driver. With this result, De Palo takes the lead in the overall championship standings with 107 points against Freddie Slater's 93.
It should be noted that for De Palo and Trident, it is the second success after the victory in the first race of the season in Misano. Good news also for NandhavudBhirombhakdi. Despite a mediocre qualifying, the Thai driver managed to get score points, thanks to a ninth place finish. Unlucky race for Ruiqi Liu, pushed off the track by some rivals and forced to finish at the back.
Matteo De Palo: "I'm really happy because we struggled a bit in Zandvoort, since we didn't have the same pace as in the first two rounds, but I think we came back in a good way. Today we were dominating, the car was really good, and I felt really comfortable driving it. The pace was unreal. We only had two moments with the safety car when I had to stay very focused because of the cars behind me, but apart from that, we were able to pull away. I'm super happy because the team did an amazing job to bring us back to this peace this weekend, and they fully deserve it”.
Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi: "After a disappointing qualifying, I think the chances to fight for strong positions in the race were limited because overtaking is really difficult on this track. So finishing in the top 10 and scoring points is very positive. I know the pace is there, so I'll take the positives from today and push for a better result in tomorrow's qualifying and race".
Ruiqi Liu: “Qualifying went quite well until the last lap, especially considering how it went before. I was on for a top 3 finish in the group, but on the final lap I had some understeer, which shouldn’t be happening. We’ll look into it and try to improve tomorrow with the pace. In any case, it was a good step forward. In the race, there’s not much to say from my side. I got pushed off onto the grass three times and dropped to the back. I managed to fight back and gain a few positions, but it was too late. Tomorrow I’ll focus more on qualifying and try to avoid any mid-pack chaos. Thanks to the team”.