TICKTUM SURVIVES MACAU F3 DRAMA
BRIT TRIUMPHS ON THE STREETS
Lando Norris was the pre-event favourite for the Macau Grand Prix, and Callum Ilott then took over that mantle by winning the qualification race on Saturday. But it was a third Briton – Dan Ticktum – who triumphed in what will go down as arguably the most thrilling race in the event’s 64-year history.
Red Bull junior Ticktum steered his way through the wreckage at the very last corner – after long-time leader Sergio Sette Camara and secondplaced Ferdinand Habsburg crashed simultaneously – to take a brilliant victory from eighth on the grid in his Motopark Dallara-volkswagen.
Ticktum, on his first race outing in a Formula 3 car this year, looked fast all weekend. He completed a Motopark 1-2-3 in first free practice behind Sette Camara and Joel Eriksson, but qualified a disappointed sixth due to being scuppered by red flags on three occasions when he was close to completing very fast laps. Eriksson pipped Mclaren F1 reserve Norris to pole, with Ilott also close in third.
In Saturday’s qualification race, Eriksson got a good start, while Norris bogged down with clutch problems and was forced out of the slipstream on the long, flat-out run to the Lisboa righthander. That left him down in ninth place. Eriksson’s rear tyres began to fade and Ilott attacked, the Prema Powerteam-run Ferrari protege taking the lead at Lisboa with four laps to run.
Ilott sprinted clear, as Eriksson concentrated on keeping Sette Camara – up from ninth on the grid after two separate crashes at Fishermen’s Bend during qualifying – at bay. Such was Eriksson’s oversteering pace that Maximilian Gunther, Habsburg and Pedro Piquet joined this group at the finish. Norris did get up to fifth, but he was running a similar low-downforce set-up to Eriksson and, as his rear tyres wore, he dropped to seventh. Ticktum also struggled as the race wore on, bemoaning an aggressive set-up – after setting fastest lap, he faded to eighth.
A good start from BMW junior Eriksson to Sunday’s final helped him into the lead as early as the Reservoir kink, with Ilott slotting into second place and Sette Camara third. The fullcourse yellow was called on lap two due to an opening-lap prang and, when the race went green on the third lap, the leaders were on the long straight down to Lisboa. Ilott instantly launched an attack on Eriksson, and thought he was past when he moved over to claim the inside line. He wasn’t, and his rightrear wheel hit Eriksson’s left-front wing. As Ilott bounced into the escape road, Eriksson’s wing folded into the suspension and he couldn’t steer, so he hit the wall and parked a little further around the track. This precipitated a full safety car, during which Ilott pitted to replace his punctured tyre.
Sette Camara was now leading from the Prema car of Mercedes DTM junior Gunther. When the race went green, there were nine laps left. After the first of those, Gunther dived out of Sette Camara’s slipstream, but had to abort his bid as yellow flags were flying.
That was as close as Gunther got, because he began to suffer enormous rear-tyre drop-off. With five tours to go, the Carlin machine of Habsburg sailed past him, and within two more laps he was under attack from Norris.
Carlin-run European F3 champion Norris made his bid with two laps to go as they sped down to Lisboa, but Ticktum got a double tow from both of them, and Ralf Aron joined in too as they briefly went four-abreast. Ticktum completed an outstanding manoeuvre on both Norris and Gunther in one go, moving from fifth to third as he just got it turned in for Lisboa.
He set about chasing Habsburg, but with one lap to go Ticktum was still five seconds adrift of the Austrian, who was right in Sette Camara’s slipstream. The Brazilian was suffering hugely with his rear tyres, and Habsburg bravely went around the outside at the Mandarin kink as they raced wheel-to-wheel towards Lisboa. Sette Camara grabbed the inside line, but such was his loss of pace that Ticktum and Norris were slashing the deficit to the leading duo.
All around the mountain Habsburg jinked left and right, trying to unsettle Sette Camara. As they raced back onto the seafront, Sette Camara defended at Fishermen’s Bend, allowing Habsburg momentum to attack at the final R Bend. He went around the outside and understeered into the barrier, as Sette Camara in turn spun into the wall.
Ticktum and Norris flashed past, and Habsburg, his two left corners severely damaged, was also pipped by Van Amersfoort Racing driver Aron as he reached the finish line. Gunther and Piquet were just behind.
“It was incredible,” said Ticktum. “I’d had a pretty unlucky weekend up to the final, so I was due a bit of luck. There’s just no words to describe what it was like coming over the finish line.”