TICKTUM TRIUMPHS AS HORROR CRASH MARS MACAU

REPORT: MACAU F3 WORLD CUP Redbulljuniorstunswithmacauwin.by Marcussimmons

When Dan Ticktum topped Macau Grand Prix qualifying with a new all-time record for the Guia circuit on Friday afternoon, it was arguably the greatest performance to date of the Red Bull Junior’s career.

When Ticktum repassed Callum Ilott and sped to a stray-dog-avoiding victory in Saturday’s qualification race ahead of Motopark team-mate Joel Eriksson, his Friday qualifying antics had faded to arguably his second-best performance.

And when he exhibited an absolute masterclass on Sunday to claim Macau GP glory for the second successive year from the breathless Eriksson, that Friday form became his third-best day.

Ticktum was utterly supreme last weekend. Whereas in 2017 he won the race after leading just the final fewhundred yards, he really didn’t have a challenger this time around. Eriksson was gifted an opportunity when Enaam Ahmed suffered his third shunt of the weekend, this time at Moorish, and the safety car set up a four-lap dash to the flag.

But Ticktum’s brilliant restart and searing pace through Fishermen’s and R Bends meant his slipstream was only sufficient to pull Eriksson alongside under braking down to Lisboa. Then Ticktum completely broke Eriksson’s challenge with astonishing speed through the mountain sector, and the Swede – returning to F3 this weekend after his rookie season in the DTM with BMW – never got into his tow again.

The result was tempered by relief that a horrifying crash early in the race at Lisboa had not produced any life-threatening injuries.

The race had restarted on lap four following an early safety car, but somehow the yellow signalling lights were still on along the straight between the Mandarin kink and Lisboa.

That prompted Eriksson to duck out of what seemed a clear pass on Sacha Fenestraz for second place, and caused 15th-placed Jehan Daruvala to brake earlier for Lisboa.

Sophia Florsch was tucked right into the Indian’s slipstream, and was unable to avoid Daruvala, riding over his right-rear wheel.

That tore the left-side suspension on her car, and she spun backwards, out of control towards Lisboa, having just flashed through the speedtrap at 171mph.

The German’s Van Amersfoort Racing car smashed into the side of TOM’S-RUN Japanese F3 champion Sho Tsuboi, who was turning through Lisboa, and was launched into the air over his rollhoop.

It cleared the crash barrier, clipped the top of a debris fence, and its flight was halted by the photographers’ bunker, before it crashed down again.

Florsch, Tsuboi, two photographers and a marshal were taken to hospital, where it emerged that former Ginetta Junior starlet Florsch – who was conscious throughout the ordeal – had sustained a spinal fracture. Tsuboi had nothing worse than lumbar pain.

News filtered through to the drivers and teams in the pitlane that Florsch was moving in the car, to the great relief of everybody, and the race resumed after a lengthy delay to repair the fence.

Eriksson took this opportunity to squirm down the inside of Renault F1 Junior Fenestraz’s Carlin machine on the brakes for Lisboa and set off after Ticktum, but even the subsequent safety car could not prevent the Brit from taking a brilliant win.

The victory was as supreme as last year’s triumph was a shock, coming

11 Guan Yu Zhou (PRC) SJM Theodore Racing by Prema Dallara-mercedes F315 +13.461s; 12 Jehan Daruvala (IND) Carlin DallaraVolkswagen F312 +13.985s; 13 Ritomo Miyata (JPN) TOM’S Dallara-toyota F317 +16.934s; 14 Yuhi Sekiguchi (JPN) B-MAX Racing Team Dallara-volkswagen F314 +18.697s; 15 Frederik Vesti (DEN) Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-mercedes F316 +19.773s; 16 Toshiki Oyu (JPN) Toda Racing Dallara-toda F316 +23.348s; 17 Yoshiaki Katayama (JPN) Carlin Dallara-volkswagen F312 +32.873s; 18 Sena Sakaguchi (JPN) Toda Racing Dallara-toda F316 +35.245s; 19 Juri Vips (EST) Motopark Academy Dallara-volkswagen F315 +46.952s; 20 Dragon (JPN) B-MAX Racing Team Dallara-volkswagen F312 +1m48.963s; R Enaam Ahmed (GBR) Hitech GP Dallara-mercedes F315 8 laps; R Sho Tsuboi (JPN) TOM’S Dallara-toyota F317 3 laps; R Sophia Florsch (GER) Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-mercedes F316 3 laps; R Ukyo Sasahara (JPN) Threebond Racing Dallara-tomei F318 1 lap; R Marino Sato (JPN) Motopark Academy DallaraVolkswagen F314 0 laps; R Alex Palou (ESP) B-MAX Racing Team Dallara-volkswagen F312 0 laps; R Charles Leong (MAC) Hitech GP Dallara-mercedes F317 0 laps; R Keyvan Andres (GER) Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-mercedes F317 0 laps. Winner’s average speed 32.176mph. Fastest lap Ticktum 2m10.246s, 105.109mph. Qualification race (10 laps – 38.028 miles) 1 Ticktum 23m41.034s; 2 Eriksson +1.563s; 3 Ilott +3.165s; 4 Fenestraz +3.948s; 5 Hughes +11.098s; 6 Schumacher +11.878s; 7 Vips +12.518s; 8 Armstrong +13.713s; 9 Aron +14.199s; 10 Shwartzman +16.535s; 11 Sato +18.374s; 12 Palou +19.602s; 13 Habsburg +20.235s; 14 Sekiguchi +21.445s; 15 Ahmed +22.161s; 16 Tsuboi +24.244s; 17 Daruvala +24.763s; 18 Leong +27.513s; 19 Florsch +29.159s; 20 Andres +30.851s; 21 Oyu +32.442s; 22 Sasahara +33.995s; 23 Dragon +1m58.193s; 24 Zhou -1 lap; R Vesti 6 laps; R Miyata 6 laps; R Katayama 2 laps; R Sakaguchi 0 laps. Winner’s average speed 96.338mph. Fastest lap Ticktum 2m10.620s, 104.808mph.

as it did following last-corner shunts for Sergio Sette Camara and Ferdinand Habsburg as they fought for the lead.

“The best way to describe it would be to say ‘less surprising but more enjoyable’,” said Ticktum.

“I don’t want to sound overly cocky, but it’s been a pretty perfect weekend on my part and the team’s part. I’m ecstatic.

“The whole weekend I just focused on every little job I had to do, and ticked every box.”

Fenestraz finished his rookie F3 season with an excellent third place, while GP3 regular Jake Hughes put in a fine performance on his return to the category to take fourth for Hitech GP.

Ilott, who has been Hughes’s ART GP3 team-mate this season, faded after leading the opening lap of the qualification race in his Carlin car.

He felt he lacked straight-line speed on his way to third place in Saturday’s race, during which Eriksson scuffed the barrier on the approach to Lisboa as he passed Ilott.

Ilott then lost out in the mad dash on the run to Lisboa at the start of Sunday’s main event, dropping to fifth. After the red flag he was doubledrafted down to seventh, and took the flag eighth, only to be promoted to seventh when Juri Vips was penalised 40 seconds for overtaking Marcus Armstrong under the red flag.

After Guan Yu Zhou’s last-lap crash out of fifth place in the qualification race, Prema Powerteam’s fortunes rested with the team’s F3 European champion Mick Schumacher, who finished fifth from team-mate Ralf Aron.

Schumacher topped both practice sessions, but could only qualify ninth after sustaining a puncture by clipping the wall at Moorish. And he didn’t exactly enamour himself to his team-mates by delaying them and scuppering their own late bids as he struggled back to the pits.