Two cars in the points. Laurens Van Hoepen narrowly misses the podium

The Feature Race at the Hungaroring, which concluded the ninth round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship season, yielded a convincing performance byTrident Motorsport, culminating in a double point finish. Laurens Van Hoepen narrowly missed the podium after an aggressive race with plenty of overtaking, finishing fourth, while John Bennett completed a strong comeback to tenth.

The Milan-based team, with operations based in Ossona, varied their driver strategies. Van Hoepen, starting from sixth place, started on the Option tyres, while Bennett, fourteenth on the grid, opted for the Prime compounds, aiming to extend his first stint.

As the lights went out, Van Hoepen made an excellent start, immediately climbing to fourth place. The Dutchman maintained a very competitive pace in the early stages of the race, even managing to fend off attacks from his rivals despite some contact in the hectic opening stages. Bennett, on his side, gradually began his comeback, taking advantage of the alternative strategy and climbing to seventh place before the pit stop.

A Virtual Safety Car, deployed on lap 16, reshuffled the strategies. Bennett pitted after the safety car, while Van Hoepen pitted a lap later, returning to the track with fresh tires and an extremely competitive pace.

The 21-year-old Dutchman immediately made up ground, putting pressure on the rivals ahead of him and climbing to fifth place before taking fourth place at the checkered flag of the Feature Race.

Bennett, after switching to Soft tires, maintained a consistent pace in the second half of the race, gradually making up ground until crossing the finish line in tenth place, thus earning the final available point.

Thanks to Van Hoepen's fourth place and Bennett's tenth, Trident Motorsport concluded the Hungarian weekend with a positive result before the summer break. The FIA Formula 2 Championship will restart its engines on the weekend of September 6th at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, the home race for the Italian team.

Giacomo Ricci: “We concluded the weekend with a remarkable performance and two points finishes. Laurens Van Hoepen drove a strong Feature Race, showing excellent pace from the start and remaining in contention for the podium for a long time. John Bennett carried out positively a different strategy, making up several positions and scoring an important point. Both cars showed competitive pace. We head into the summer break with encouraging signs and the determination to be at our best at our home round in Monza.”