British driver Luke Browning from the Hitech Pulse-Eight team marked his Macau debut with a dominant win in yesterday’s two-part ,15-lap Formula 3 (F3) World Cup race of the 70th Macau Grand Prix (MGP).
The 21-year-old, who also won Saturday’s qualification race, started in pole position, with Irish teammate Alex Dunne starting second on the grid and Italian racer Gabriele Minì from the SJM Theodore PREMA Racing third.
In the first lap, Dunne, who had dropped to 3rd, crashed into the barrier at the Lisboa Bend, with Minì now in second and his Swedish teammate Dino Beganovic moving up to third, and Browning maintaining a gap while in the lead. After a close battle on the second lap, Beganovic attempted to overtake Minì, but crashed at the Lisboa Bend not long after due to locking up his brakes, prompting a second virtual safety car.
In the fifth lap, Norwegian driver from the MP Motorsport team, Dennis Hauger, took the third-place position from Estonian SJM Theodore PREMA racing team’s Paul Aron, while Browning and Minì were still first and second.
Aron crashed while going through Solitude Esses on the eighth lap, with the car breaking in half and catching fire, but he managed to get out unharmed. This, however, resulted in a lengthy red flag period.
After an intense battle at the restart, Hauger overtook Minì and fought Browning for the lead, very briefly moving into first position, but Browning immediately secured it again, leaving Hauger second and Minì third.
Another safety car was deployed near the end after Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov from the ART Grand Prix team crashed, with Browning, who clocked up 1 hour and 35 minutes, crowned champion, while Hauger and Minì finished the race second and third respectively. Meanwhile, F3 2019 winner Richard Verschoor from the Netherlands finished 6th .
During the post-race press conference, Browning said: “To win at this level against this grid is properly humbling”, adding that he was grateful for his win and thoroughly enjoyed racing on the circuit. “For a young guy driving around in fast cars, this is an absolute dream, so I very much enjoyed it”.
Browning also told reporters that he plans to come back to race again here next year.
Additional reporting by MGPOC
Browning zips by the Reservoir Stand during yesterday’s F3 race. – Photos: Rui Pastorin
Hitech Pulse-Eight team’s Luke Browning poses with his trophies on the podium after yesterday’s Formula 3 (F3) race.
