Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Vernay wins Macau qualification race

Jean-Karl Vernay grabbed victory in the Macau Grand Prix qualification race on Saturday with a dominant performance at the front of the field

The Signature driver, who started from second on the grid, took the lead away from the line but was repassed by pole position man Marcus Ericsson on the run down to Lisboa.

Following a brief safety car period, caused when Jake Rosenzweig crashed heavily at Mandarin Bend on the first lap, Vernay moved back to the front when he dived past Ericsson into Lisboa at the restart on lap four.

Vernay then pulled clear, while behind him Ericsson had a tough time fighting off the attention of Edoardo Mortara.

Although Mortara did get past Ericsson on lap eight, the move was made under yellow flags so Mortara gave the position back - just as another safety car came out to retrieve Wayne Boyd's crashed Hitech machine from the exit of Mandarin.

The race then finished behind the safety car, with Vernay taking the win from Ericsson and Mortara.

Vallteri Bottas finished fourth, with Laurens Vanthoor fifth and Daniel Ricciardo sixth.

F3 Euro Series champion Jules Bianchi crashed into the wall at San Francisco Bend on the opening lap after jumping over the left rear wheel of third-placed Edoardo Mortara. He managed to get the car back to the pits for repairs, rejoined and made his way back up to 21st by the end.

Another of the event's front runners, Brendon Hartley, finished 24th after hitting the back of Stefano Coletti as Lisboa while fighting for eighth place early in the race.

Pos  Driver                Team            Car  Time/Gap
 1.  Jean-Karl Vernay      Signature       D/V  31m52.192s
 2.  Marcus Ericsson       TOM'S           D/T  + 0.271s
 3.  Edoardo Mortara       Signature       D/V  + 1.094s
 4.  Valtteri Bottas       ART             D/M  + 1.587s
 5.  Laurens Vanthoor      Signature       D/V  + 2.178s
 6.  Daniel Ricciardo      Carlin          D/V  + 4.598s
 7.  Sam Bird              ART             D/M  + 6.093s
 8.  Takuto Iguchi         TOM'S           D/T  + 6.665s
 9.  Roberto Merhi         Manor           D/M  + 8.072s
10.  Mika Maki             Hitech          D/V  + 9.250s
11.  Renger van der Zande  Double R        D/M  + 9.720s
12.  Yuji Kunimoto         Now             D/T  + 10.493s
13.  Alexander Sims        Double R        D/M  + 10.769s
14.  Victor Garcia         Fortec          D/M  + 11.149s
15.  Max Chilton           Carlin          D/V  + 11.627s
16.  Kei Cozzolino         Toda            D/H  + 13.395s
17.  Stef Dusseldorp       Kolles & Heinz  D/V  + 14.531s
18.  Kouki Saga            La Beausset     D/T  + 19.317s
19.  Carlos Huertas        Manor           D/M  + 20.060s
20.  Daniel Zampieri       Prema           D/M  + 20.292s
21.  Jules Bianchi         ART             D/M  + 20.624s
22.  Stefano Coletti       Prema           D/M  + 21.332s
23.  Alexandre Imperatori  Kolles & Heinz  D/V  + 21.974s
24.  Brendon Hartley       Carlin          D/V  + 22.262s
25.  Daniel McKenzie       Fortec          D/M  + 23.145s
26.  Michael Ho            Manor           D/M  + 24.222s

Retirements:

     Wayne Boyd            Hitech          D/V  6 laps
     Henry Arundel         Carlin          D/V  5 laps
     Jake Rosenzweig       Fortec          D/M  0 laps

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Vernay grateful for team-mates' help
Next article Q & A with Jean-Karl Vernay

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe