Edoardo Mortara dominated the Qualification Race for the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix, with Signature teammates Laurens Vanthoor and Daniel Abt finishing second and third in the 10 lap race.
Mortara did not make the best of starts from pole position, finding himself under pressure from Valtteri Bottas through Mandarin Bend. It was Abt though that found his way to the front, but Mortara then regained the lead at Lisboa. Further back James Calado lost control through Mandarin and crashed into Alexander Sims.
From there Mortara built up a comfortable gap over the rest. Vanthoor got past Abt for second on lap three, with the lead pair unchallenged for the rest of the race. Abt faced pressure from the Prema cars of Bottas and Roberto Merhi, with Merhi taking third around the outside of Lisboa on lap eight. Merhi soon slowed with a puncture though, handing third back to Abt.
Bottas finished fourth, ahead of Marco Wittmann in the fourth Signature entry. Renger van der Zande finished sixth, with Jean-Eric Vergne and Carlos Huertas rounding out the top eight.
Mortara, chasing a historical second win in the Macau Grand Prix, said: “My start was not so good, but I could claim back the lead on the first lap. When my margin was big enough, I backed off a little bit. This victory is nice, but the really important thing is tomorrow, because that is when the main race of the weekend is on.”
