Trident Racing - The team of youth and joy

Trident Racing is an Italian motorsport team based in the city of Milan that competes in the lower ranks of the single-seaters, like GP2 and GP3 Series.

The team was founded by Maurizio Salvadori, entrepreneur and successful manager in the international and Italian music industry. He always was a huge motorsports fan and decided to form the team with headquarters in Milan, while the team’s factory is located in San Pietro Mosezzo near the city of Novara.

Maurizio Salvadori, founder and owner of Trident Motorsport

Trident Racing in GP2 Series

Soon after it was established, Trident Racing debuted in the 2006 GP2 Series, an official support championship to Formula One World Championship. Gianmaria Bruni and Andreas Zuber were the drivers in the team’s rookie season and did above the expectations. In the battle against more experienced teams, Trident finished 6th in the standings, thanks to two wins scored by Bruni and one by Zuber who, interestingly, raced under the flag of United Arab Emirates.

The following year wasn’t as successful after the team dropped to the 10th position. Japanese Kohei Hirate drove a full season for Trident Racing, while Pastor Maldonado, Ricardo Risatti, and Sergio Hernandez shared a seat of the second car. The Venezuelan Maldonado scored the only win for the team that year and was the best-placed driver after finishing 11th.

Pastor Maldonado raced for Trident at the beginning of his career

The season of 2008 was just slightly better. Trident Racing moved up to the 9th position in the Teams’ Championship, while Mike Conway scored the only victory and finished 12th in the standings. The second driver was Ho-Pin Tung and he collected just 7 points out of 20 races.

Giving a chance to many young drivers

The following seasons were pretty similar to the previous ones. Trident Racing decided to give a chance to many upcoming talents. Many drivers have gone through the team for the next three years, resulting in variable results. Ricardo Teixeira and Davide Rigon were named as drivers in 2009 but they were able to score just three points, all by Rigon, who was replaced by Rodolfo Gonzalez in one round. That was probably the worst season in the team’s history after Trident Racing finished penultimate in the standings.

In 2010 the results became somewhat better. Adrian Zaugg drove the full-season and picked a total of 9 points. On the other side, the results score by Johnny Cecotto Jr were disappointing as he scored just three points. Edoardo Piscopo and Federico Leo also had a chance to drive in one round each. Trident Racing finished 11th in the Teams’ Championship that year.

Stefano Coletti scored two wins for Trident in GP2 Series

The long winless streak finally was ended in 2011. The Monegasque driver Stefano Coletti won twice and finished 11th in the Drivers’ Championship, while his compatriot Stephane Richelmi and Venezuelan Rodolfo Gonzalez finished the season empty-handed. Thanks to Coletti’s results, Trident moved up to the 8th position in the GP2 Series.

The 2014 season was the best so far

Richelmi stayed with the team in 2012 and was teamed with Colombian driver Julian Leal. While Richelmi did considerably well and collected 25 points, Leal hasn’t met the expectations after scoring just 9 points. The team finished 10th in the standings what wasn’t satisfying.

Unfortunately, the following campaign was pretty similar. The only highlight was Nathanael Berthon’s triumph in the Sprint race at Hungaroring. The Frenchman drove the full-season while Kevin Ceccon, Ricardo Teixeira, Gianmarco Raimondo, and Sergio Campana shared the seat of second Trident car. Interestingly, Ceccon was the one who scored the most number of points that season. However, the 11th position in the Teams’ Championship wasn’t satisfying result.

Trident Racing’s team celebrates Cecotto’s victory in 2014

Luckily, the team’s fortune overturned in 2014. That year was the best so far in Trident Racing’s history as the Milan-based team finished 5th in the standings. Johnny Cecotto Jr had a fine season during which he scored two wins at Catalunya Circuit and Red Bull Ring. He finished 5th in the standings while Sergio Canamasas was 15th after missing the season-opening round when the driver was Zimbabwean Axcil Jefferies.

Solid results in 2015 and 2016

In the following two years, Trident Racing finished in the middle of the standings. In 2015 five drivers had an opportunity to drive Dallara-Mecachrome cars. Raffaele Marciello was only who drove full-season and with 110 points took the 7th position. Rene Binder appeared in 12 races that year but scored just 2 points, while the other drivers were Gustav Malja, Daniel de Jong, and Johnny Cecotto Jr.

Luca Ghiotto raced for Trident in both GP3 and GP2 Series

Luca Ghiotto and Philo Paz Armand were the driver pair in 2016. The Italian did well and won the race at Sepang before finishing 7th in the Drivers’ Championship with 111 points. On the other side, the Indonesian driver had a horrible season and ended the season as the only man who drove full-season but failed to pick a single point. That’s why team dropped to the 8th place in the Series.

In 2017, Trident Racing continued its presence in the series which was renamed to FIA Formula 2 Championship, with returnee Sergio Canamasas and Nabil Jeffri as drivers.

Expansion to GP3 Series

In 2012 Trident Racing joined GP3 Series, replacing the Barwa Addax Team. In the first year in the series, the Milan-based team fielded just two cars and finished 9th in the Teams’ Championship after Giovanni Venturini scored all points for the team.

Giovanni Venturini celebrates victory for Trident at Silverstone, 2013 GP3 Series

The young Italian driver stayed with the team for another year and again was Trident’s leader. At Silverstone, he scored a maiden victory in the series for Trident while his compatriot David Fumanelli helped the team to finish 8th in the Teams’ Championship.

The season of 2014 was quite interesting after no less than nine drivers drove for Trident. The only who was able to impress was Patrick Kujala as he collected 22 points out of four races. Roman de Beer and Luca Ghiotto also scored some points for the team that finished 9th overall.

Trident Racing became title contender

In the following years, Trident Racing was established as one of the leading teams in the series. Ghiotto was the series runner-up in 2015 after winning five races. Artur Janosz and Oscar Tunjo also scored points that year helping the team to finish 2nd in the Teams’ Championship, behind ART Grand Prix.

Luca Ghiotto was the GP3 Series runner-up with Trident

Antonio Fuoco was Trident’s leading driver in 2016. The Italian scored two wins, at Silverstone and Hockenheim, before finishing 3rd in the standings. Unfortunately, Janosz, Giuliano Alesi, and Sandy Stuvik were far below the expectations as they collected a total of just 13 points. However, it was enough for the 3rd in the Teams’ Championship.

Other motorsport activities

Over the years, Trident Racing was involved in other minor racing series but GP2 and GP3 Series always were a priority. From 2008 to 2011 Trident Racing has competed in GP2 Asia Series, finishing 4th in the last season.

Trident Racing team

In 2008 and 2009 the team also was involved in International Formula Master. In the first year, Trident Racing was the series vice-champion while in 2010 ceased its operations in the championship after the first round. In 2010, the team made a one-off appearance in the Auto GP series and finished 4th in the Teams’ standings.

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