Ticktum sets record lap to takes Macau GP qualification race pole

Photo: Macau Grand Prix

Dan Ticktum took pole position for the Macau Grand Prix qualification race with a record breaking lap around the Guia Circuit.

The 2017 winner became the first person to break the 2m10s barrier, clocking in a lap of 2m09.910s, almost half a second clear of his nearest rival Callum Ilott.

Motopark driver Ticktum had led Carlin’s Ilott in Thursday’s first qualifying session, and the two Formula 1 juniors were also near the front in free practice.

Ilott’s Carlin team-mate Sacha Fenestraz was the surprise of the session, taking third on the grid ahead of last year’s poleman Joel Eriksson. The Motopark driver’s final flying lap was ruined by ThreeBond driver Yuhi Sekiguchi hitting the barriers at the final corner and collecting the DTM race-winner.

Eriksson’s team-mate Juri Vips also had his final lap compromised, and will start his first race as a Red Bull junior from 14th place. Marino Sato, another of the Motopark drivers, also crashed late on and caused a brief scare for the approaching Ilott. Despite ending his session early, the Japanese driver still qualified seventh.

Hitech GP’s Jake Hughes improved on the time that put him fourth in Q1, but dropped two spots to sixth.

Guan Yu Zhou was the fastest of Prema Theodore Racing’s quintet entry in fifth place. He’d rarely appeared in the top 10 prior to setting his personal best, and usurped team-mate Mick Schumacher, who had topped both free practice sessions but made two costly mistakes in qualifying, limiting him to ninth. Marcus Armstrong also beat Schumacher, but prematurely ended his session after crashing at the Melco hairpin. Ralf Aron completed the top 10.

B-MAX Racing duo Yuhi Sekiguchi and Alex Palou failed to better their Q1 times, and qualified 11th and 13th, sandwiching Prema’s Robert Shwartzman. Their team principal?Ryuji ‘Dragon’ Kumita was slowest overall, but was importantly within 110% of the pole time, meaning he can race.

Ferdinand Habsburg, who starred at Macau last year, qualified 15th, ahead of Japanese F3 champion Sho Tsuboi and Enaam Ahmed, who both crashed.

Macau rookie Frederik Vesti was the top?Van Amersfoort Racing driver in 18th place, with his team-mates Sophia Floersch and Keyvan Andres in 20th and 25th. Both had messy sessions, with Andres intertwining with Carlin’s?Yoshiaki Katayama at Lisboa early on.

Combined qualifying results