Antonio Felix da Costa followed up his win in yesterday’s Qualification race to win the Macau Grand Prix today in stunning fashion.  The 2012 winner started from pole but had to fight team mate Sergio Sette Camara hard for victory, with the young Brazilian completing a double podium for Carlin in third.  Jake Hughes claimed the title of top rookie after crossing the line sixth, while fellow rookie Lando Norris, completed a fantastic weekend for the team, making up 15 places to cross the line 11th after starting from the back of the grid.

When the lights went out for the Macau Grand Prix FIA Formula Three World Cup there were two Volkswagen powered Dallaras in the top three, with da Costa starting from pole and Sette Camara third.  Hughes was starting well in the mix in 10th while Norris had his work cut out from 26th on the grid.

Both da Costa and Sette Camara made strong starts, but it was Sette Camara that came out of Lisboa in the lead, with remarkably few incidents on the opening lap.  As the field crossed the line for the first time, Sette Camara was leading da Costa, Hughes had passed two cars to eighth place, while Norris was 26th.

At the front, Sette Camara and da Costa had pulled away from the rest of the field and were very much involved in their own battle for the lead.  Just as the pair got close, racing was neutralised as the safety car was launched while marshals recovered the stranded car of Nikita Mazepin.

At the restart, both Sette Camara and da Costa managed to break away from third placed man and two times Macau winner Felix Rosenqvist, but the fight between the team mates remained close, with da Costa just taking the advantage and the lead into Lisboa.

Hughes was also making the most of the restart, the young Brit was up to seventh on lap seven, with Norris also fighting his way through the field, running in 17th.  After the safety car had bunched up the field, Sette Camara found himself under pressure from Rosenqvist in the second half of the race, but Sette Camara defended well and was managing to hold onto second while staying in pursuit of da Costa.

A second safety car was required after an accident for Rosenqvist’s team mate Nick Cassidy who had made contact with the wall.  At the second restart, da Costa again led the field away, under intense pressure from Sette Camara.  As da Costa retained the advantage, Sette Camara once again had Rosenqvist to deal with, losing P2 with only two laps to go to the more experienced racer.

At the front, da Costa was controlling the pace, and didn’t look under any pressure from Rosenqvist, crossing the line to take his second Macau victory, with Sette Camara completing a stunning race to claim third.  Hughes made the most of every lap, making up another place to finish sixth, while Norris almost made it into the top ten, claiming 11th despite starting 26th.

Still leading, da Costa looked completely in control; the Portuguese racer was able to hold a gap over Rosenqvist and at the flag claimed his second Macau victory.  Sette Camara claimed the final podium spot in third with Hughes making it three Carlin cars in the top six.  Norris marked himself as a potential future Macau star making up 15 places to finish 11th.

Speaking about his second Macau victory, da Costa said, “I have no words.  Trevor called me a month ago.  I said lets just do this.  I had so much fun here all week and to give the team this result back is unbelievable.  I didn’t expect this, I surprised myself.  This was probably my most dominant race here and its such a nice feeling to have that in your pocket.  I need to thank Trevor, the whole team, my crew.  All three of my team mates pushed me so hard this weekend.  These young guys and rookies, they will make it to F1, to a top level.  I’m so happy to win at this amazing track again.”

“It feels great,” added team mate Sette Camara.  “if someone had handed me a contract at the start of this week and said here – you finish third – I might have thought about signing it!  I mean it’s not the best result, but it’s pretty up there, you can’t get much better than a podium at Macau.  Especially when you’re racing P3 against two guys who race at such a high level, and are racing on street circuits in Formula E, that makes the pain a little less in losing out on the win.  I had in my mind exactly how to make the start and I had imagined how to handle restarts, but it didn’t go quite the right way for me.   I hope I can come back next year and win it.  I have good feelings overall.”

Taking the title of top Macau rookie in only his second F3 outing, Hughes was also satisfied with a strong outing.  “I’m over the moon.  Yesterday I was a bit disappointed only finishing tenth, but even recovering back to my original qualifying position of sixth today, was awesome.  It’s more the manner in which we did it.  I managed to get a good start and passed two cars on the first lap into Lisboa, and after that I managed to get my head down and overtake both Hitech cars into Lisboa.  The car was so good today.  It was a pleasure to drive and thanks to everyone at Carlin for having me this week.”

Having passed 15 cars on his way to the chequered flag, Norris certainly proved his Macau race craft.  “During the first few laps I didn’t make up too many places, but once I got into a bit of a rhythm, I started to pick them off.  I think the main thing for me is that I really enjoyed it.  Up until my accident yesterday I was doing ok; its unfortunate, because I think today could have been quite good.  It’s been great to have Antonio in the team as I’ve learnt a lot from him, I’ve worked really hard, I’ve enjoyed it and have a lot to take with me into next year.”