56th Macau Grand Prix 

The best-placed driver from the Formula 3 Euro Series, Jean Karl Vernay (Signature, 2:10.081 minutes) claimed second place on the grid for the qualification race of the Macau Grand Prix. In the second qualifying session at the 6.12 kilometres long track in Macau, that allowed for faster lap times than the first session, only Marcus Ericsson (Tom’s, 2:10.042 minutes) was faster than the Frenchman.

Valtteri Bottas (ART Grand Prix, 2:10.108 minutes) and Edoardo Mortara (Signature, 2:10.234 minutes) will be lining up on the second row of the grid. A total of seven drivers from the Formula 3 Euro Series secured themselves a top ten position in the Formula 3 Euro Series.

Second qualifying saw a lot of action with no less than three red flags. The first one was caused by Carlos Huertas (Manor Motorsport, 2:14.321 minutes). Water on the track at the Melco hairpin was the reason for the second interruption while the third one emerged after both Brendon Hartley (Carlin, 2:12.168 minutes) and Kevin Chen (Räikkönen Robertson, 2:18.910 minutes) had hit the barriers in the closing stages. After that, the session wasn’t restarted.

Jean Karl Vernay (Signature): “This is my first time in Macau. My plan was to complete as many laps as possible in order to gain experience. My car is running very well here and I am happy with second place.”

Valtteri Bottas (ART Grand Prix): “Learning the track is not easy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do so many laps yesterday due to a problem with my car and an accident. Nevertheless, I have continuously improved myself throughout the weekend. Today, I had a chance of claiming pole, but I guess I have to make do with third.”

Edoardo Mortara (Signature): “I am a little bit sad, because I had bad luck with the yellow flags. Just when I was on a flying lap, yellow flags were out and I had to abort the lap. Otherwise, I think that everything is possible for me over here, because my car is really good. It will be important not to make any mistakes. The Macau Grand Prix will be decided on Sunday, not on Friday already.”

Air temperature: 16.7 °C
Track temperature: 25.1 °C

source: f3euroseries.com