Ericsson not worried by defeat

The Swede made a poor getaway at the start to lose the lead to Vernay, but he recaptured the front position on the run down to Lisboa.

He stayed there through the early safety car period, but could do nothing to prevent Vernay drafting past him at the restart on lap four - before spending the rest of the race defending second from Edoardo Mortara.

Although Vernay's pace out front has showed how strong he will be in Sunday's main race, Ericsson sees no reason why he cannot overhaul his French rival if he makes some set-up changes to improve his TOM's Dallara-Toyota's straight line speed.

"We need to find a good set-up, so we have a car that is good in a straight line as we were lacking today," Ericsson told AUTOSPORT. "I know Toyota and TOM's are very good and we will push hard - and I think we will find something good.

"I feel confident and I am here to try and win Macau for TOM's for the third year in a row. This is not going to change after today. I am ready for it, we just need to push really hard and work really hard."

Ericsson believes there was little he could have done to prevent Vernay overhauling him at the safety car restart - because of the strength of the Volkswagen engine.

"I knew the VW guys are very, very quick in a straight line, so I knew it would be very tough," said Ericsson.

"I tried to make a really good restart and I think I did it. I think I had quite a gap so I thought for a second it would be okay, but then when I looked in my mirrors before Mandarin I saw him in my gearbox and thought: damn, this is going to be tough.

"Unfortunately he had the momentum to pass me and get in front, and it was over for me. We didn't have the maximum speed after the safety car, as I think I didn't work the tyres hard enough, so it took a little bit to build up.

"That is why I lost a bit the gap. But then, when I built up my speed, I think it was pretty even, or maybe I was even a bit quicker. It felt I was closing a little bit.

"Then I made a small mistake and Edoardo came in my tow and he overtook me. There was a yellow flag there and I had taken my line but he kept going past me. After that, he let me pass again.

"For me, my performance was the best I could have done, really, so I am pretty happy with that. I am sure we will be strong tomorrow and, as you know, in Macau it is the Sunday race that really matters. We took double pole and were second in the first race so for sure we are strong, and I know the team work hard for tomorrow."