Photo: f3esmedia

Victory for Marco Wittmann in Macau qualification race

Marco Wittmann (Signature) has won the qualification race for the 58th Macau Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday at 15.30 h local time (8.30 h CET). At the 6.12 kilometres long Guia circuit, the German Euro Series’ driver finished ahead of Felipe Nasr (Carlin) and Formula 3 Euro Series’ Champion Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam), who finished second and third respectively. Six drivers from the Formula 3 Euro Series scored a top ten finish.

Starting from pole position, Marco Wittmann only had to battle for his position in the first run up to the Lisboa corner. After that, he safely held on to his first place throughout the ten lap distance. The race finished under safety car conditions following an accident by Jimmy Eriksson (Motopark). Next to Wittmann and Merhi, other Formula 3 Euro Series’ drivers to score a top ten finish were Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam) in sixth, Laurens Vanthoor (Signature) in seventh, Daniel Abt (Signature) in eighth and Kimiya Sato (Motopark), who ended up ninth.

Marco Wittmann (Signature): “My start was really good, but I was also lucky that António Félix da Costa stalled next to me. On the opening lap, Felipe Nasr had almost overtaken me before the Lisboa corner, but I had the better line. After that, I only tried to pull a gap on Felipe. Having won the qualification race is good, but the important race only follows tomorrow.”

Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam): “I had a good start and I was able to make up positions on the first few laps. After two laps, I had also overtaken Valtteri Bottas after he had a slight mistake. The remaining races were trouble-free and third place on the grid for the Grand Prix is a really good place to start from.”

Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam): “That was a really good race. My start was excellent and I was already sixth after the opening lap. After that, I didn’t want to take too many risks anymore. Once, Carlos Huertas made a slight mistake under braking for the Lisboa corner in front of me. However, I didn’t want to take the risk of attacking him and jeopardizing my own good position.”