Trident65 started 13th and finished third in China's D2 race, taking a first IMS podium for Mercedes. No other top-three finisher gained more than one position.
CONNOROCE won from P2 and Her Wet Cat finished second from pole for a VCARB one-two. CONNOROCE also took the drivers' lead on 139 points, 14 ahead of HPJones.
Third place owns the longest route
The top two exchanged the first two grid positions. Trident's ten-place recovery altered a much larger span, carrying the final podium place from the seventh row.
That achievement deserves separation from VCARB's title takeover. The winner changed the leader; Trident changed his own career record and supplied Mercedes with a result outside the dominant pair.
A first podium inside an 83-point team gap
VCARB led Ferrari by 83 in the constructors' standings. Trident's breakthrough did not threaten that control, but it gave Mercedes a verified D2 high point before Silverstone-R.
China's D2 headline may belong to CONNOROCE. Its deepest grid-to-finish story belongs to Trident65: P13 to P3, ten positions and a first IMS podium.
