Italian GP3 squad Trident have retained the services of 21-year-old Giovanni Venturini for the upcoming season.
Venturini, a Vicenza resident, joined the outfit prior to the fourth round at Silverstone last year, filling what was until that point a vacant seat.
In the remaining ten races, the Italian secured two podiums and three other points finishes, elevating Venturini to 13th in the final standings – respectable, if nothing else.
Aside from his GP3 spell, 2012 was not the smoothest of years for Venturini. A troubled early season spell in Formula Renault 3.5 with BVM Target dented confidence somewhat; however the nature of that drive and its revolving door policy suggests factors outside of the drive may have hurt the competitiveness of the seat {note 1}.
There is something of a common ground across Trident’s driver line-up, as Venturini is to be partnered by San Marino’s Emanuele Zonzini and fellow Italian David Fumanelli. Indeed Trident ran an all-Italian line-up last year too {note 2}, albeit with less potent results.
According to Venturini, “the decision to stay with Trident followed after a lot of analysis. During the off-season, I drove for two other teams in testing, and I’m convinced that this is the right choice, from both a technical and personal standpoint. In last week’s first pre-season test, I found a great chemistry with the car and I think we can definitely be a contender for the title.”
He added, “it’s going to be a hard-fought series with at least eight great candidates in contention. In the end, I think that consistency will be the key, and that’s the main direction we’re headed in”.
With Trident’s line-up completed, only six seats remain to be filled, with a full two-and-a-half months left to the season opener.
{note 1}
Following Venturini’s ejection from the FR3.5 drive at BVM, that seat would be filled by Sergey Sirotkin, Daniel Zampieri, David Rigon (one round each) and Tamás Pál Kiss (two rounds). Of his replacements, only Zampieri scored any points.
{note 2}
In 2012, Trident also ran Vicky Piria (full season) and Antonio Spavone (for four rounds) – neither of whom scored a point.
2013 GP3 Series field (as of February 27th) ART GP: Facu Regalia, Jack Harvey, tba MW Arden: Carlos Sainz Jr, Robert Visoiu, Daniil Kvyat Carlin: Luis Sá Silva, Nick Yelloly, Eric Lichtenstein Jenzer: Samin Gómez, Patric Niederhauser, Alex Fontana Marussia Manor: Dino Zamparelli, tba, tba Status GP: Jimmy Eriksson, Josh Webster, tba Bamboo Engineering: Roberto La Rocca, tba, tba Trident: David Fumanelli, Emanuele Zonzini, Giovanni Venturini Koiranen GP: Patrick Kujala, Aaro Vainio, Kevin Korjus
