Van Hoepen happy with recovery effort and TRIDENT pace after Sprint Race points

Laurens van Hoepen was able to recover from a tough Qualifying result on Friday at Monza to rebound into the points in Saturday’s Sprint.

The TRIDENT driver went from 15th on the grid, but by the time the chequered flag was waving to end the first race of the weekend, he sat P8 and claimed a hard-earned points.

Speaking in the paddock afterwards, the Dutch driver says that he was very pleased to show the team’s true pace, and that the pace in the Sprint bodes well for what’s to come in the Feature Race on Sunday.

“I think it was a good recovery from yesterday,” van Hoepen said. “It was a tough qualifying to then gain seven positions, score at least one point in the Sprint Race. It's always a bit more tricky to gain positions in the Sprint compared to the Features.

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"It's promising for tomorrow. I think we definitely have some stuff to work on still, but we're going to look into the data and see where we can improve, and then hopefully gain even more positions tomorrow.”

Van Hoepen kept himself out of trouble in a race where several of his rivals around him nearly came to blows.

The TRIDENT driver said that it was his game plan to assess things after the start and keep his nose clean. From there, he said that it was about managing the tyres, with the temperatures in Monza making tyre preservation a crucial element in the Sprint.

"As a team we managed the race quite well. I had a good start and then kind of tried to stay a bit out of trouble and not to do too many mistakes. I also took care not to overheat the tyres, because that was a big factor, because it's so hot on track the tyres really are screaming at some point. So I tried to manage that, and honestly, it looked like we were quick in the corners.

“We were sliding a bit less than the other guys at the end, so that, I think, just helped. And then we had some life left at the end of the race. I think maybe it would have been a bit better if there was no Safety Car at the end but tomorrow is the main race and we’ll go for it again.”

With the higher points on offer in the Feature Race on Sunday, van Hoepen is optimistic of his chances in repeating his charge up the order.

He added that with the unpredictable nature of Monza, anything could happen and that he will be targeting another haul of points to take home from Italy.

“Yesterday was, I would say, was my fault. So I was really upset with that, it just makes the weekend a whole lot tougher.

“But at least we recovered today, and we still have one more race to go that we can fully recover the weekend. The strategy here is always a bit similar in a sense, but the Safety Car can play a part. It's just about making sure you're ready for everything.

"We have some data from the past couple of years, and there's always so much chaos happening at Monza that you just have to be prepared for everything. Then it’s about taking any opportunity that comes to you.”