Antonio Felix da Costa ensured the best possible starting position for tomorrow’s Macau Grand Prix FIA Formula Three World Cup, after winning a dramatic Qualification Race around the challenging Macau street circuit.  Team mate Sergio Sette Camara also showed strong pace to claim a podium spot in third.  Jake Hughes came home 10th after losing out at the start, while Macau rookie Lando Norris was one of several drivers to hit the wall on lap one, which brought his race to an early conclusion.

With all four Carlin cars starting today’s race in the top nine, hopes were high for a strong result for the British team.  As the lights went out, both da Costa and Sette Camara had a good start from the second row of the grid, both passing pole man George Russell and challenging leader Callum Ilott.

Hughes and Norris quickly found themselves in the middle of the action on their first Macau start.  Hughes had to brake to avoid an accident ahead of him and lost a handful of places in the process, while Norris followed several drivers into the wall after Mandarin, causing race ending damage to his Volkswagen powered Dallara.

As the safety car was deployed to clear away the various cars and debris, da Costa lay second behind leader Ilott, with Sette Camara running third.  Hughes meanwhile had avoided the melee but was running in 11th.

At the restart, da Costa stayed close to Ilott and sensed his opportunity, passing the 18 year-old just before Liboa to take the lead.  From then on the Carlin man looked unchallenged, with team mate Sette Camara also holding a strong third place.

At the chequered flag it was a win for da Costa and third for Sette Camara, while Hughes managed to make up one place to finish inside the top ten.

With finishing positions from today’s race setting the grid for tomorrow’s Macau Grand Prix, da Costa will start from pole, while Sette Camara will make it two Volkswagen powered car in the top three starting positions.  Hughes will line up 10th while Norris will face a battle through the field from the back of the grid.

Speaking about his victory, a very calm da Costa said, “My car gave me the confidence to push, and at the restart I was close enough I was able to make the pass.  After that I pulled a bit of a gap while still keeping in the safety margin.  It was hard work out there though; I’m used to power steering now so my arms felt it!

Sette Camara added, “I was happy to get a good start; I have been driving all year with a different team so I was a bit concerned about the clutch and getting away well.  I took it safe and didn’t want to crash on the first lap.  I think I got up to second and dropped back to fourth.  Then I took a bit of a risk on the dusty line at Lisboa and had enough grip to pass George [Russell].  I think we lacked a little bit of pace, but we can fix that tomorrow.”