Trident takes points finishes with Ramos and Fornaroli

The FIA Formula 3 Championship got back into action at the legendary Walloon circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, home to the penultimate round of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship this weekend. In an extremely hard-fought qualifying session, conditioned by a lot of traffic and drivers who slowed their pace in the final stages compromising the second attempt of many others, the Trident Motorsport drivers performed well, with Leonardo Fornaroli setting the third-fastest lap, Meguetounif finishing in P8 and Santiago Ramos rounding out the top-10. 

With the reversed top-12 grid for the Sprint Race, Fornaroli started from P10, Sami Meguetounif from P8, and Santiago Ramos from P3, as the Frenchman received a three-place grid penalty for track limit violations. The trio had a consistent start and essentially held onto their positions. The race was immediately neutralized due to a first-lap incident. At the restart, Ramos moved up to the fourth place, before being overtaken and dropping to fifth again. Meguetounif, on the other hand, moved up to sixth place, while Fornaroli improved to P9.

The race ran smoothly in the middle stages, and while a hard-fought finale was expected, there were no big changes in the leading. In the end, Meguetounif was investigated for track limit violations and later relegated out of the points zone. Ramos crossed the finish line in P5, while Leonardo Fornaroli was eighth. This result allows the 19-year-old driver from Piacenza to move up to third place in the drivers' standings. The Feature Race, set to cap off the weekend in the Ardennes, is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:30.

Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager, Sprint Race Quote:“We got into the points zone with two cars at the end of a race without many overtakes, unlike what usually happens on this track. An increasing number of teams have reached a good level of performance, the gaps are minimal and the margins for passing are decreasing. Our drivers kept a competitive race pace. Eighth place enabled Fornaroli to move up to third in the championship standings, while Ramos finished in the top five again. Meguetounif also set a competitive pace but lost positions due to track limit infringements. Now it will be important to play our cards well in tomorrow’s Feature Race, where we need to use our maximum determination and focus”.