Mike Conway and his Trident Racing colleague Ho Pin Tung have made a piece of history by becoming the first drivers to win on the new Valencia street circuit.
The pair were among a group of drivers from the GP2 series who entered the fourth round of the International GT Open so they could get to grip with the new track, which has been specially designed for this year’s F1 season and will also host the feeder series.
“It should be a lot of fun, although the serious business is to learn the track,” Conway said before the races.
Alternating driving duties in a Dodge Viper, they won the first race and managed fourth place in the second despite being given a time handicap during the driver changeover because of their earlier victory.
“We experienced a really positive weekend,” said Conway afterwards. “Our goal was to familiarise ourselves with an unknown track, but we enjoyed our stay for many other reasons.
“First of all, I liked the track a lot, I was expecting a classic street-course, but this one has many fast corners with several passing opportunities, and that’ll be appreciated in the GP2 Series.
“Then, we had a lot of fun and we even won. It wasn’t an easy job though, since temperatures were very high and it has been tough to come to the end. I think this race will prove very useful when we’ll be back with the GP2 Main Series.”
The successful weekend of GT and Formula Three events led to the circuit receiving its track licence from the FIA ahead of the forthcoming Grand Prix, which will be on August 22-24.