Sébastien Buemi fastest Formula 3 Euro Series driver
Sébastien Buemi (Räikkönen-Robertson Racing)
is the best-placed driver from the ranks of the Formula 3
Euro Series on the grid for tomorrow’s 15 lap qualifying
race for the 54th Polytec Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix. The
Swiss driver’s lap time of 2.12.061 minutes at the 6,12
kilometres long track brought him fourth place overall in
the second and final qualifying session. Fastest qualifier
was Briton Oliver Jarvis (Reckless TOM’s, 2.11.696 min.)
from Estonian Marko Asmer (Hitech Racing, 2.11.888 min.) and
Japanese Kodai Tsukakoshi (Manor Motorsport, 2.11.912 min.).
The second qualifying session, in which the vast majority
of the drivers improved their own best lap times set on the
previous day, was a typical Macau affair with no less than
three red-flag interruptions and numerous yellow flags. The
first interruption was caused after 13 minutes by Dutchman
Renger van der Zande (Prema Powerteam, 2.15.910 min.) who
hit the barrier coming out of the Solitude-Esses. Some 20
minutes after qualifying resumed, the red flags were out again
after a crash by New Zealander Brendon Hartley (Carlin Motorsport,
2.15.031 min.) and only one minute after the restart, there
was another interruption due to Austrian Walter Grubmüller
(Hitech Racing, 2.18.511 min.). In the final ten minutes,
many drivers in the top ten managed to improve their lap times
with a lot of position changes as a result. Eventually, Jarvis
came out on top from Asmer,Tsukakoshi and Buemi. Italian Edoardo
Mortara (Signature Plus, 2.12.238 min.) showed a fine performance
by qualifying fifth upon his first visit to Macau, which made
him the best-placed rookie in the field. Other drivers from
the ranks of the Formula 3 Euro Series in the top ten are
Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule 3, 2.12.248 min.) in sixth, his
team-mate Kamui Kobayashi (2.12.332 min.) in seventh and Yelmer
Buurman (Manor Motorsport, 2.12.895 min.) in tenth.
Sébastien Buemi (Räikkönen-Robertson
Racing): “The result is okay, but it was difficult
to find the right rhythm with all these interruptions. For
tomorrow, I have to find the right compromise between charging
to make up some places and playing it safe to make it to the
finish.”
Edoardo Mortara (Signature Plus): “I
am quite happy with my result. Qualifying as the best-placed
rookie in fifth place is not too bad. I managed to improve
from one session to the next.”
Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule 3): “Of
course, I had hoped for more after my provisional second place
from yesterday. But on the other hand, tomorrow’s race
is only a qualifying race. Sunday is when it matters most.”
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