Nael clinches Macau GP qualification race pole by beating Slater in Q2

Photo: Macau GP Organising Committee

KCMG Pinnacle Motorsport’s Theophile Nael claimed pole position for the Macau Grand Prix qualification race by topping Q2.

A 2m15.708s was the time to beat entering Friday’s session, as Prema’s Freddie Slater had set the pace in Q1 on Thursday.

The fielded headed out on fresh tyres, and R-ace GP’s Enzo Deligny was the initial pacesetter. Nael and team-mate Mari Boya then moved ahead, before Slater posted a 2m17.033s to lead Nael by 0.347 seconds. ART Grand Prix’s Taito Kato also lapped sub-2m18s to go fourth fastest, but was soon fifth as team-mate Evan Giltaire set a 2m17.874s to rise to third.

Deligny improved to 2m17.589s on his next lap, moving ahead of Giltaire who then reclaimed the place by 0.023s. Meanwhile Nael outpaced Slater by 0.027s, and was set to improve again before PHM Racing’s Jose Garfias crashed in the mountain section. He triggered a six-minute red flag period, and the session clock was paused.

After the restart, Boya lapped 0.136s shy of Nael 17 minutes in to sit third. Both then set purple sector splits next time by, but ended their laps by pitting.

At the session’s halfway mark, Deligny was demoted to fifth despite improving as PHM’s Mattia Colnaghi set a 2m16.783s to go quickest by 0.223s.

Kato put in a 2m17.238s to go fourth fastest before red flags waved as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Tymek Kucharczyk crashed, and this time Slater was disadvantagd as he had set a purple sector split.

Following another six-minute break, qualifying resumed. There was change at the top with 13 minutes to go, as Deligny lowered the pace by 0.172s. Two minutes later red flags returned, as Evans GP’s Charlie Wurz crashed. Boya and Colnaghi had been set to challenge Deligny’s 2m16.611s.

It was a brief interruption, and with seven minutes left the pole battle heated up. Boya set a 2m16.933s in third, and just behind Nael posted a 2m15.977s to lead Deligny by 0.634s and get within 0.269s of Slater’s provisional pole time.

A 2m16.684s put Prema’s Rashid Al Dhaheri ahead of Boya in Q2’s classification, with Giltaire setting a 2m16.743s to sit fourth with six minutes to go.

Deligny got within 0.018s of Nael one-and-a-half minutes later, and Boya was 0.129s shy of Nael, but both were slower than in Q1. But in Boya’s tow, Nael improved to 2m15.609s and now had provisional pole.

Slater’s responded by improving, but was 0.267s off the laptime that had toppled his Q1 benchmark by 0.099s. Colnaghi also made a big gain, but sat 0.427s behind Nael in fourth.

Giltaire snatched third with 96s left on the clock, setting a 2m15.884s, and Kato went 0.032s slower than him in fourth. That demoted Deligny and Colnaghi to fifth and sixth. Boya was improving at the end but pitted, and his Q1 time put him ahead of Colnaghi. Al Dhaheri, R-ace’s Matteo De Palo and Trident’s Noah Stromsted completed the top 10.

Qualifying results