Trident takes P5 with Fornaroli

The Feature Race rounded out the Monaco FIA Formula 3 Championship round on the famed street course, and confirmed the good form of Trident Motorsport. In the qualifying session, the team based in Ossona secured the fifth-fastest lap time with the leader of the championship, Leonardo Fornaroli, P14 with Imola winner Sami Meguetounif and P17 with  Imola pole winner Santiago Ramos. 

At the start, Fornaroli kept fifth place, after taking off perfectly. Meguetounif gained a position, while Ramos lost one, dropping to P18. The race went into caution at the end of the first lap due to a crash. The restart was managed well by the Trident Motorsport drivers. Meguetounif gained another position and put the top ten in his sights. As the race continued, few overtakes were possible and the changes were mainly due to offs and mistakes, which caused two more safety car situations.

Fornaroli held onto his fifth-place finish until the end, which handed him 10 points in the championship standings. Still, the 19-year-old from Piacenza temporarily lost the lead. Fornaroli returns from the Principality in third place, with eight points to recover from the top of the ranking. Trident Motorsport, however, stays second among the teams. Ramos finished in P14, while Meguetounif was forced to retire after finding the track blocked due to contact between two cars in front of him. Now the series is taking a month off, the next event is set for the third weekend of June on the Montmelò track. 

Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager, Feature Race Quote: "We were aware that the result of the qualifying session would strongly influence the outcome of the Feature Race at Monte Carlo, a fascinating and challenging track, which has the downside of extreme difficulty in overtaking. Fornaroli kept the fifth position he got in qualifying, and made no mistakes, but had no opportunity to go beyond that place. Meguetounif and Ramos, however, started in the middle of the pack and were part of several battles that prevented them from making it to the points. The Frenchman was eventually forced to retire due to a car blocking the track in front of him. We leave Monte Carlo with a lower amount of points than our average, aware that the race in the Principality always presents many unknowns.  Now we have to work to get back to our usual levels in the next round in Montmelò."