The GP2 Series weekend at Spa-Francorchamps was off to an eventful race 1 today as a nasty crash occurred to De Jong on lap 5 forced race control to red-flag the event for several minutes. Trident captured a positive result with the #12 car driven by rookie Gustav Malja. Thanks to a clever strategy and a good tire and traffic management, the Swede was able to cross the line in 11th position. Unfortunately, the team didn't collect the expected dividends with the second car, driven by Raffaele Marciello, who ended up in 17th.12 - GUSTAV MALJA
After starting from the back of the pack following to a tough qualifying session, Malja was great in staying away from several contacts and improving his position right from the start. On lap 6, when the full-course yellow went out, he was called in for his pit-stop and put hard tires on which enabled him to go to the full distance. Once back on-track, a red flag was due to De Jong's crash and all the drivers stopped on the pit-lane for a while. At the re-start, Gustav kept a steady pace and kept climbing up the order, getting close to the top-10. His first GP2 Series race was completed with a more than positive balance. He will now try to do it all again in Race 2, scheduled for Sunday at 10:35.
Final Position: P11Position on Starting Grid: P24Tires on grid start : Soft Yellow OptionTeam's strategy: Option / Prime11 - RAFFAELE MARCIELLO
The Belgian weekend of the series hasn't been off to a positive for Marciello, who experienced some qualifying struggles and ended up in 12th place after suffering from the low chemistry with his car since practice. After delivering a strong start, he fought back to 6th place in the first few laps. Unfortunately, the red-flag condition cost him the ground he had gained at the start. In the second half of the race, the ACI Team Italia driver faced a performance drop when his car was fitted with soft tires. Raffaele eventually crossed the line in 17th and will start the sprint race from the 9th row.
Final Position: P17Position on Starting Grid: P12Tires on grid start : Hard Orange PrimeTeam's strategy: Prime / Soft
