Fourth place for James Jakes in qualification race
James Jakes (Manor Motorsport) is the best-placed Formula
3 Euro Series driver in the qualification race for the 54th
Polytec Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix. The British driver finished
fourth in the incident-packed race that was red-flagged after
nine laps and was not restarted. Pole-sitter Oliver Jarvis
(Räikkönen-Robertson Racing) claimed victory from
Marko Asmer (Hitech Racing) and Kazuya Oshima (Team Reckless
TOM’s). Yelmer Buurman (Manor Motorsport) came sixth,
his team-mate Franck Mailleux was third-best driver from the
Formula 3 Euro Series in 13th place.
Prior to the race, most drivers had vowed not to take any
unnecessary risks as the sole purpose of this qualification
race was to determine the grid positions for tomorrow’s
main event. However, reality was different as the race was
packed with incidents. It already started on the opening lap
when Edoardo Mortara (Signature Plus) missed his braking point
for the Lisboa right-hander and triggered a pile-up that also
included Sébastien Buemi (Räikkönen-Robertson
Racing). Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule 3) clipped the barrier
on the opening lap and dropped down the order. Subsequently,
the safety car was deployed for three laps. On lap seven,
Nico Hülkenberg (ASM Formule 3) was involved in a crash
with Bruno Senna (Räikkönen-Robertson Racing) coming
out of Mandarin and hit the barrier. One lap later, Atte Mustonen
(Signature Plus) crashed coming onto the main straight, which
brought the red flags out. The race was not restarted and
the final classification was based on the standings after
lap seven.
James Jakes (Manor Motorsport): “Now
that was a crazy race! I had a good start and managed to gain
a few places. From then on, my main goal was staying out of
all the troubles and that worked out pretty well. I already
found out last year that that is the best strategy to succeed
in Macau.”
Yelmer Buurman (Manor Motorsport): “I
quickly moved up into sixth place after the start, but then
I was stuck behind Sam Bird and although I was quicker, I
couldn’t find a way past. I had some understeer in the
early stages, but it got better and better as the race went
on.”
Franck Mailleux (Manor Motorsport): “I
already overtook three drivers at the start and then, I gained
most places because of other drivers crashing out. I had some
problems in the practice sessions. It seems that this time,
the others struggled more than I did.”
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