Macau AF3 Qualifying Race Results
Saturdays 10 lap qualifying race saw Christian Jones finish in 22nd position that equaled his pre-race practice times. Nelson Piquet Jr, son of the F1 legend, had a disappointing day with an early retirement. Son of Keke Rosberg, Nico, faired much better and will start Sunday’s Grand Prix outside of the first row.
As yet I have not seen a race recap, but suspect with five cars not completing a lap there may have been a rather large shunt on the first trip thru the tight hairpin.
UPDATE: So I was wrong about the hairpin, the open wheel bumper tag started much earlier, on the starting grid.
The safety car appeared, having been summoned to clear the wreckage of a series of start-line incidents. Richard Antinucci, who had won the Korean leg of last year’s Far East double-header, had made a slow getaway from third place on the grid and was clouted from behind by Nelson Piquet Jr, but there was a bigger incident further back in the pack.
Eric Salignon, only recently recovered from the road accident that ruled him out of the F3 Euroseries finale, slammed into the back of the stalled Kazuki Nakajima before spearing off into the barrier, while ‘local’ favourites Marchy Lee, Ho Pin Tung and Rodolfo Avila were also caught up in the shunt. Lee, stepping up to F3 after previous Macau success in Formula Renault, was forced to the right to avoid Nakajima’s stranded car, but Tung, who had started directly behind the Meritus driver, was unable to avoid the evasive manoeuvre and the two clashed, sending Tung into the air and Lee in to the wall.
1. Lewis Hamilton Manor Dallara-Mercedes 10 laps 33m 16.057s
2. Nico Rosberg Rosberg Dallara-Opel +02.284s
3. Alexandre Premat ASM Dallara-Mercedes +03.982s
4. Robert Kubica Manor Dallara-Mercedes +04.984s
5. Jamie Green ASM Dallara-Mercedes +05.454s
6. Fabio Carbone Three Bond Dallara-Nissan +07.551s
7. Loic Duval Signature Dallara-Opel +17.289s
8. Lucas di Grassi Hitech Dallara-Renault +18.888s
9. James Rossiter Signature Dallara-Opel +19.439s
10. Danny Watts Hitech Dallara-Renault +20.513s
11. Adam Carroll Menu Dallara-Opel +21.685s
12. Franck Perera Prema Dallara-Opel +23.761s
13. Katsuyuki Hiranaka Prema Dallara-Opel +24.752s
14. Robert Austin Menu Dallara-Opel +25.335s
15. Naoki Yokomizo Inging Dallara-Toyota +26.494s
16. Ronnie Quintarelli Inging Dallara-Toyota +27.688s
17. Alvaro Parente Carlin Dallara-Mugen +28.012s
18. Daisuke Ikeda Swiss Dallara-Opel +31.813s
19. Marko Asmer Carlin Dallara-Mugen +31.990s
20. Matteo Cressoni Ombra Dallara-Mugen +32.891s
21. Giedo van der Garde Signature Dallara-Opel +34.658s
22. Christian Jones TME Dallara-Toyota +55.774s
23. Michael Ho TME Dallara-Toyota +58.889s
24. Lei Kit Meng Ombra Dallara-Mugen +1m 43.680s
25. Jo Merszei Swiss Dallara-Opel +2m 01.384s
Rtd Richard Antinucci TOM’s Dallara-Toyota 8 laps completed
Rtd Nelson Piquet Jr Piquet Dallara-Mugen 1 lap completed
Rtd Eric Salignon ASM Dallara-Mercedes 0 laps completed
Rtd Rodolfo Avila Carlin Dallara-Mugen 0 laps completed
Rtd Kazuki Nakajima TOM’s Dallara-Toyota 0 laps completed
Rtd Ho Pin Tung Hitech Dallara-Renault 0 laps completed
Rtd Marchy Lee Meritus Dallara-Mugen 0 laps completed
