“Lynn takes Macau F3 qualifying race”

Alex Lynn claimed the Macau F3 Grand Prix qualifying race in superb style this morning, with the Prema Powerteam racer winning by 2.4s from Felix Rosenqvist.

It a masterful display from the Englishman that saw him make a fabulous start to grab 2nd just behind the early leading Rosenqvist, before sweeping past the Swede following the race’s sole safety car period.

From there, Lynn built a gap of 2.7s by the eighth tour, while Rosenqvist, Marciello and 2012 Macau F3 GP winner Antonio Felix da Costa battled it out for the runner-up spot.

Despite this early success, Lynn kept his delight in check, knowing the big race is not until tomorrow. “In terms of the qualification race this is nice, but the Grand Prix itself is another thing. The main positive is that the car felt really nice. I made a good start, and my restart was good as well.” He then added: “I’ve been reminded all week by my engineer that Sunday is the goal, and the rest of the week is just the journey. But it feels great ¬ now I’ve won a race around Macau!”

A bad start from Marciello dropped the Italian from pole to 5th, although that easily became 4th when Lucas Auer took himself out of contention by crashing at San Francisco Bend on lap three. From there, Marciello hounded da Costa for a podium spot and eventually swept by the Portuguese racer with a somewhat risky move into the tight Lisboa bend at the half way point.
Despite some not insignificant pressure, Marciello was powerless against the 2nd place Rosenqvist, while at the same time; the Swede could do nothing about the leading Lynn.

Pipo Derani took 5th following a somewhat lonely race in the highest finishing Fortec. Although some 3.6s adrift of da Costa, the Brazilian Derani was still a 3.0s clear of next man Alexander Sims (T-Sport)

Sims had taken 6th from Carlin’s Jordan King (7th) after the safety car period, but could not shake the British F3 champion thereafter, while the feisty Will Buller (Fortec) clung to their coattails.
Carlos Sainz Jr could do nothing to progress further than 9th, while Esteban Ocon swept by Stefano Coletti with three laps remaining to complete the top ten.

As noted, the Macau opener was not free from some sort of destruction. On the grid, Tom Blomqvist was hit from behind by Harry Tincknell, while Dennis van de Laar appeared to stall – these incidents brought out the safety car until the beginning of lap three.
Ed Jones also crashed out at the R-Bend, while Nelson Mason ignored a drive through penalty, eventually resulting in a black flag – not something the Macau stewards will appreciate in the slightest.

2013 Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix (Qualification Race; 10 laps)
Pos Driver                  Team/Car                           Time/Gap   
 1. Alex Lynn               Prema Dallara-Merc               24m41.968s 
 2. Felix Rosenqvist        Mucke Dallara-Merc                  +2.411s 
 3. Raffaele Marciello      Prema Dallara-Merc                  +3.461s 
 4. Antonio Felix da Costa  Carlin Dallara-VW                   +4.089s 
 5. Pipo Derani             Fortec Dallara-Merc                 +7.620s 
 6. Alexander Sims          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan             +10.620s 
 7. Jordan King             Carlin Dallara-VW                  +10.958s 
 8. Will Buller             Fortec Dallara-Merc                +11.691s 
 9. Carlos Sainz Jr         Carlin Dallara-VW                  +13.045s 
10. Esteban Ocon            Prema Dallara-Merc                 +14.713s 
11. Stefano Coletti         Eurointernational Dallara-Merc     +15.853s 
12. Jazeman Jaafar          Carlin Dallara-VW                  +17.068s 
13. Nicholas Latifi         Carlin Dallara-VW                  +30.339s 
14. Yuhi Sekiguchi          Mucke Dallara-Merc                 +30.990s 
15. Antonio Giovinazzi      Double R Dallara-Merc              +34.049s 
16. Lucas Wolf              URD Dallara-Mercedes               +35.563s 
17. Sean Gelael             Double R Dallara-Merc              +36.620s 
18. Yuichi Nakayama         TOM'S Dallara-Toyota               +38.920s 
19. Katsumasa Chiyo         B-Max Dallara-Toyota               +40.040s 
20. John Bryant-Meisner     Fortec Dallara-Merc                +40.503s 
21. Sun Zheng               Double R Dallara-Merc            +1m06.786s 
22. Nelson Mason            Zeller Dallara-Merc              +1m11.265s 
23. Kevin Korjus            Double R Dallara-Merc                +1 lap 
Retirements: 
    Lucas Auer              Prema Dallara-Merc                  +7 laps
    Ed Jones                Fortec Dallara-Merc                 +7 laps
    Tom Blomqvist           Fortec Dallara-Merc                +10 laps 
    Harry Tincknell         Carlin Dallara-VW                  +10 laps 
    Dennis van de Laar      Mucke Dallara-Merc                 +10 laps

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