Freddie Slater to start from Row 2 in the final race
SJM Theodore PREMA Racing put together a brilliant comeback in the Qualifying Race for the 71st Macau Grand Prix. After the bad luck experienced in Qualifying Practice, the team’s three drivers made positive gains in the 10-lap sprint despite bad weather once again coming into play.
Freddie Slater had a blistering start from P7 and quickly moved up to the top-5. After an early safety car for a crash in the midpack, he tracked down his closest contender and dived down inside Lisboa, moving up to P4. After that, heavy rain started to fall in some corners which prompted a lengthy red flag. While all cars went back behind the safety car with wet tyres, a re-start never happened, crystallizing the final order. He will start the 15-lap Grand Prix from the second row.
Both Dino Beganovic and Alex Dunne made amazing improvements after being caught in an unavoidable crash in qualifying. They gained a few spots straight away and added another move up after the stoppage but with the pack not being able to restart in the rain, their progress was limited and they had to settle for P10 and P12 respectively.
One of the most unpredictable editions of the Macau Grand Prix will continue with the running of the final race tomorrow at 15:30 local time. While rain is not completely out of the picture, the team is in high spirits and looking forward to a smoother run at the Guia Circuit.
#30 - Dino Beganovic
“We went from P15 to P10, had a good launch and I’m happy about that because the starting procedure in Regional is different than in F3. I’m also happy with the decisions I took going into T3 and, at the end of the day, there is nothing I would have done differently. We didn’t have any issue in going straight into race rhythm, considering both Alex and I only did one lap yesterday, and that shows we are very competitive. We were faster than the cars around, but that sometimes makes it hard for you to get into the right flow, and with no DRS it’s not easy to make something happen in the straight. Let’s see if we can get more green flag laps and the luck we really need tomorrow, and we’ll see what we can do.”
#31 - Freddie Slater
"It was a pretty chaotic race. I managed to gain a position at the start and got into P4. I hunted the other driver down and managed to have the pace, which was the main thing. I cracked on with the job and the team gave me an outstanding car to follow in sectors 2, 3, and 4, which is quite difficult, so I was able to attack going into Lisboa. It’s been a tough qualifying yesterday, but now we bounced back in the race, and we’re in the hunt. We put ourselves in a good position and we go for it tomorrow.”
#32 - Alex Dunne
“It was a bit annoying to be so far back, but also fun. I think our pace was really really good and I was very comfortable with the car. The most important things were being strong on the brakes into T3 for overtaking and being quick exiting the last two corners, and we had both things. To be honest, the pace has never been a doubt throughout the whole weekend, but we were super unlucky as a team. Still, we did a good job and I’m happy with it.”