Trident in the top 10 at the Red Bull Ring in the first round of the 2026

The first round of the Formula Regional European Championship saw Trident Motorsport secure points from straight at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. This was achieved by Maksimilian Popov, sixth in race one after starting from the fourth row, and Kai Daryanani, who twice finished eighth in the first and second races, and tenth in the third race. Popov had finished fifth in race two, but a penalty dropped him to 11th, while a collision dropped him out of the top 10 in race three, finishing 12th. It was a shame for Andrija Kostić, who suffered two difficult qualifying sessions, finishing 22nd in race one and 13th in the second race, before finishing 16th in the final race. It is worth highlighting the good work done by the drivers and Maurizio Salvadori's team, with Popov consistently leading the way and Daryanani scoring his two best results in the Regional category.

Andrija Kostić: “The weekend was definitely not maximized, we had quite some potential that we did not use fully. Still, we learned a lot and gathered plenty of information that we can use next weekend to get back to the top, where we want to be. That’s the main goal. We know where to go and how to work, we just need to put everything together and keep pushing”. 

Maksimilian Popov: “Quite a difficult weekend to start the FREC season. We scored decent points in Race 1 with P6, then in Race 2 I finished P5 but unfortunately a 5-second penalty dropped us out of the points. In Race 3, I was running in the top ten before a contact put me out of the points as well. We need to improve in some areas and come back stronger in Zandvoort. I believe in what we can do and I’m sure it will be better there”. 

Kai Daryanani: “Overall, a solid weekend, a good improvement from UAE. We scored points in all races so far. There were good steps forward in all areas: driving, mentally, working with the team and push-to-pass strategy. So it’s a good step in the right direction and we’ll keep working”.