The GP3 Series went back on-track last weekend at the Valencia street course for the third round of the 2012 season. Trident Racing fielded Vicky Piria, who made it to the finish in both races, and Antonio Spavone, who was punted out of race 1 right after the start.
Both Spavone and Piria showed great professionalism as they did a great job despite the little time available for them to prepare due to their final high school examinations.
The next round in the GP3 Series schedule will be on August 6 to 8 at Silverstone. It will be the start of a really busy stint with three rounds to be held in four weeks.
Antonio Spavone
“We didn't score great results in the round at Valencia, but the Spanish weekend of the series provided us with many positive indications. The work done on the car proved great, and the chemistry between me and it improved a lot. My main regret is not to have been able to prove our potential in qualifying. Unfortunately, a car spun in front of me and I was forced to brake in avoidance. At the end of the session we saw that until that point, I was 6 tenths of a second faster than before and I would have easily qualified close to the top-10. I started from the back, and my first race has been pretty short because I was hit from behind at the first corner. I put my hands off the steering wheel but I got a concussion to my wrist. In race 2 I took-off from the last place. When I finally moved on Vicky after a few laps, I clocked some great laptimes confirming how good our potential was. I hope to finalize all the great work done so far at Silverstone”.
Vicky Piria
“The round at Valencia hasn't been among the easiest. Due to my high school leaving qualifications I had less time to prepare, and having been more time in the simulator, especially because I didn't know Valencia, would have helped a lot. I struggled in getting in-touch with the car and in qualifying I couldn't do better than 22nd. In race 1 I was really determined but I also wanted to avoid any mistake in the first lap. There have been several crashes, but I made it through unscattered and I was in 12th by the end of lap 3. Unfortunately, I got a drive-through penalty for not having slowed down enough in a sector where yellow flags were exposed. I was sure to have slowed down enough, but as it turned out, it didn't go that way. The second race was conditioned by the huge tire wear, a problem that also hit other drivers. Due to my low starting position though, I wasn't able to recover. Although we did not get what we deserved, it hasn't been a weekend to forget. I ran to the finish in both races and that's positive because I keep learning new things in terms of setting-up the car and on how to use the tires correctly”.
