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Spa Podium Finish Gives Tveter Added
Confidence Entering Last Two GP3 Events

OYSTER BAY, N.Y., Sept. 8 — Buoyed by a podium finish of second in what he called “the best race of my career so far” at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium in late August, America’s Ryan Tveter is looking forward to a successful conclusion to the 2018 GP3 series season in the two remaining events Sept. 28-30 at the Sochi Autodrom in Russia and Nov. 23-25 at the Yas Marina Circuit in the United Arab Emirates.

Tveter, of Oyster Bay, N.Y., came from eighth on the grid to second in the first half of the doubleheader at Spa on Saturday, Aug. 25. The following day he started seventh and finished eighth, which was another points-paying day.

Tveter had a spectacular, aggressive start in the first race at Spa.

With a dramatic move to the inside at La Source, he blasted past all but the polesitter, his Trident teammate, David Beckmann, on the first of 17 laps around the 4.352-mile, 19-turn road course. Then he fought off numerous advances from the current points leader, Anthoine Hubert, to place second in the field of future F1 hopefuls.

Tveter closed in on Beckmann on laps five and six, coming very near especially on the Kemmel Straight. He set the third-fastest lap of the race on lap 15 with a 2:08.029. Hubert set the fastest lap of the race on the same lap while trying to pass Tveter, but the American was not to be denied and fought him off.

Their battle allowed the eventual winner, Beckmann, to wiggle further away, but not by much. Tveter’s No. 7, which carries the colors of The Disruptive and Stilo, was just 1.3 seconds behind Beckmann at the checkered. The podium finish also generated additional exposure for Tveter’s charity partners: Right To Play, MTV Staying Alive, and the Lessons for Life Foundation.

“It was very slippery,” Tveter said after that race. “I was able to have a good reaction at the start, release the clutch, and find my way to the inside. I took [Simo] Laaksonen straight away and then I had a run on the ARTs. Then everyone locked up into the first corner, so I took it a bit easy on the brakes and stayed to the inside, and had a perfect exit. I got past Pedro [Piquet] before Eau Rouge, and then knew I had to push like crazy to get away from them. Pedro got very close into Les Combes. That was the first time approaching the braking zone and I locked up and had to go across the runoff area. I didn’t really gain an advantage because Pedro got another run on me, and I was able to keep around the outside. I was pushing like crazy to try and catch David. I was giving it absolutely everything through Eau Rouge. I really enjoy these conditions, and obviously the car was handling absolutely amazing and I was able to maximize. I got very close to David halfway through the race, but I had another tricky braking point at Les Combes and I’m very lucky I didn’t tap him or anything else! I had to run off, lost the DRS, and from then on the tires were a bit tricky to manage.

“I think Anthoine had been saving a little bit from the beginning. He came on strong at the end and was catching both of us. I was giving everything to survive and bring home the result for the team.”

Tveter said the one-two finish for Trident was for Giacomo Ricci, the team manager, whose father was very ill. “He chose to come here this weekend to be with us and support the team rather than be with his dad, so I’m really happy we got this result for them,” Tveter said at the time.

“To go from eighth on the grid to second and score a Trident 1-2 was an incredible result and definitely marked the best race of my career so far,” he added. I came very close to the victory in Spa.”

Tveter started seventh in Sunday morning’s race at Spa, which was delayed a bit due to fog. His rivals had learned their lesson though, and Tveter dropped to 11th by lap two and then had to claw his way back to a points-paying finish in only 11 more laps. He got tenth on lap seven when Leonardo Pulcini had a problem, and ninth on lap eight when he passed Gabriel Aubry. He moved into eighth on lap 10 when Joey Mawson dropped back. Tveter then fought off serious challenges from Tatiana Calderon for that finishing position at the end.

Trident won both races at Monza, Italy, Sept. 1-2, as Beckmann and Piquet were victorious. Tveter showed great pace and finished both races, but he had two rough trips there and ended up 11th and 16th.

“Unfortunately Monza was a much tougher weekend for me due to a few crazy circumstances during the first race and a couple issues in qualifying that hampered my chances at pole, despite being just over three-tenths away,” he said. “I’m so happy for the team for the two victories and even happier for Giacomo, as his father passed away just after Spa and there couldn’t have been a better tribute to him and his legacy both weekends.

“We’ve really found the sweet spot with the car and are able to contend for the pole and victory in every session now, so I’m putting the weekend in Monza behind and focusing on maximizing our potential for the last two rounds in Sochi and Abu Dhabi.”

Tveter is currently tied for eighth in the championship.

For more information see RyanTveter.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The series' Web site, which hosts a live timing and scoring feed, is at gp3series.com. Trident's Web site is at tridentmotorsport.com.