Trident and De Palo again in the top 6 in Race 2 at Zandvoort
The weekend of the Trident team at Zandvoort ended with another sixth place for Matteo De Palo, obtained in the second race. Also crossing the finish line were Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi, 14th, and Ruiqi Liu, 15th.
The race was held on a dry track, while qualifying 2, held in the morning with winter temperatures and an unpleasant rain, had a significant impact on the final outcome. De Palo took the eighth fastest time overall, the fourth in Group A, and he he was able to finish sixth on a circuit where overtaking is practically impossible. For De Palo, these are very important points because, even if he has lost the championship lead, they keep him just one point behind the new leader, Freddie Slater.
Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi and Ruiqi Liu, who started from the eighth row, completed the race without problems in 14th and 15th position. The next appointment is the weekend of 6 July at the Hungaroring near Budapest.
Matteo De Palo: “It was a tough weekend, we struggled a bit to find the speed we’ve had throughout the rest of the championship. In the end, though, we managed to optimize everything and get the best result possible on both days, and that’s what matters. We brought home important points. Now we’re fully focused on Hungary, where we’ll try to get back to where we deserve to be”.
Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi: “A disappointing weekend, not much more to say. Just like in Spa, we had the potential to get a strong result here, but today’s qualifying wasn’t ideal. On my side, I could have done a better job, and in the race there wasn’t much I could do. I managed to overtake a few cars, but on this track, with all the dirty air, overtaking was just extremely difficult. I’ll focus on the positives and keep moving forward to see what we can achieve next”.
Ruiqi Liu: “What a crazy weekend here in Zandvoort. Honestly, I’ve never experienced something like that. The conditions weren’t just difficult, they were extreme in Q2. Just five minutes before the green flag, there was a 30-second shower that made the track completely wet and changed everything in a few moments. It was really tricky for me, because it was basically my first time on the wet this weekend, and going straight into qualifying didn’t help. I didn’t manage the tyre working range well, but overall the pace in the wet was good, so I’ll keep working in this direction. I started P15 and finished there. It was a pretty calm race compared to race 1, but I’m not too worried: overtaking was just really hard. I’m confident Hungary will be better”.