Trident Racing successfully completed its roster for the 2012 GP2 Series. The Italian squad, owned by Maurizio Salvadori, will be relying on the services of Colombian Julian Leal. He will join Stéphane Richelmi in a pair which is well-known by the team from both a professional and human point of view.
After having entered the 2010 AutoGP season and having rejoined the team in the 2011 GP2 Series collective test at Abu Dhabi, the 21-year-old will be back home for his sophomore season in the top F.1 feeder championship.
Leal started his motorsports career in 2006 as he made his first steps in open-wheel racing in the Pan-American F. Renault. He moved to Europe for the following season, before winning the 2008 Italian F.3000 Championship. In 2009, he also rounded out a really positive season in Formula Renault 3.5.
In 2010, he entered the AutoGP championship with Trident Racing, taking one win and becoming all-round contender, while he made his GP2 Series debut in 2011. In such a tough environment for rookies, Julian built a pretty valuable experience race-by-race. The fastest lap achieved at Spa-Francorchamps and several others highlights added more hopes for 2012. Julian, who proved to be a great performer, will now have to capitalize from all this experience.
Trident Racing is proud to have completed their 2012 line-up early and will give their best support to both Leal and his team-mate Stéphane Richelmi. They already are great prospects in what is expected to become the toughest season in the series' history.
Julian Leal
“I'm really satisfied with the deal reached with Trident Racing. I've been knowing them really well as we raced together in the 2010 Auto GP championship and last Autumn in GP2. I've got a great opinion of the whole team and I'm sure we'll be doing a great job together. I'm facing my second full season in GP2: my goal is to take full advantage of the experience made in 2011 and hit the podium often. My team-mate, Stéphane Richelmi, will be at his first season but I'm aware that he can be pretty fast. I'm certain that by working in close contact with him will help our engineers a lot. I want to thank my family, my sponsors and all my supporter for this opportunity. Of course, thanks also go to Trident Racing for their trust in me. I hope to reward everybody by doing a good job on-track."
