Macau Grand Prix

ALEX LYNN TAKES VICTORY IN MACAU—

British driver Alex Lynn (Theodore Racing by Prema) won in the prestigious Macau GP and celebrated the most important success of his career to date in the former Portuguese colony. At the 6.12 kilometres long Circuito da Guia, the third-placed of this year’s FIA Formula 3 European Championship finished ahead of António Félix da Costa (Carlin), last year’s winner at Macau, who came second. Luis Felipe Derani (Fortec Motorsports), who also raced in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship this year, finished third. 

At the start, Alex Lynn took the lead from pole position. Still on the opening lap, Felix Rosenqvist (GR Asia with Mücke) retired following a collision. Lucas Auer (Theodore Racing with Prema), Sean Gelael (Double R Racing) and John Bryant-Meisner (Fortec Motorsports) suffered from a similar fate. The incidents led to a safety car phase.

At the restart, Lynn was able to maintain his leading position, while António Félix da Costa managed to overtake Luis Felipe Derani in the battle for second. On lap seven, Raffaele Marciello (D88.com Prema Powerteam) also worked his way past Derani, but slid into the barriers following a driving error three laps later. For the reigning FIA Formula 3 European Champion, this was the end to his race. Derani found himself back in third place behind Lynn and Félix da Costa again and went on to bring this result home.

Alexander Sims (ThreeBond with T-Sport) finished fourth, scoring his best result at Macau to date. Jordan King (Carlin) took the chequered flag in fifth place as the best rookie at Macau. Tom Blomqvist (Fortec Motorsports, 8th place) and Nicholas Latifi (Carlin, 9th place) also finished in the top ten in the Chinese gambling paradise. All four junior drivers raced in the 2013 FIA Formula 3 European Championship. 

Alex Lynn (Theodore Racing by Prema) 
“I still can’t find the worlds to describe how nice it is to win here. This is a long-time dream of mine coming true. In 2012, I came third here and I definitely wanted to do better this time. I managed to do so and I am totally happy. Especially the fact that I was able to race in the colours of Theodore Racing, a team with such a long-standing history, in the 60th running of the race, is making me proud. In the first half of the race, I was able to pull a decent gap from the rest of the field, but as António came closer and closer in the final stages, I just said: stand on it…”

Luis Felipe Derani (Fortec Motorsports)
“For me, the race was great fun, but it was also very tough. I was racing with used tyres and keeping up with the others was difficult. I am really happy with my podium finish. I definitely wanted to do better than my sixth-place finish from last year.”

Alexander Sims (ThreeBond with T-Sport)
“All in all, my race was good. In the first half, we still were having a few technical issues and I thought that we wouldn’t be able to finish the race by any means. Towards the end, I was able to attack once more and my lap times were really good. On one hand, it is really a shame that we didn’t make it onto the podium. On the other hand, I am really happy with my best Macau result to date.”