Vanthoor predicts 'intense' battle

Mortara is favourite for victory in the blue riband F3 event after being fastest in qualifying and stamping his authority on the field in the 10-lap qualification race on Saturday.

But Vanthoor says he has not shown his full potential after deciding it was better to take a safe second than risk everything by pushing to close down on his team-mate.

"I think it is going to be pretty intense," was Vanthoor's prediction for Sunday's main event. "Edoardo is favourite as he won last year - so I need to beat him and I want to win.

"I will do my best and give it all I have got to see where we end up. Macau is always a very tricky race, and lots can happen with safety cars and crashes. So we will see what happens. I will do my best and see where we finish."

Vanthoor lost ground to Mortara early in the qualification race as he tried to move up from his third place on the grid - and by the time he got past Daniel Abt for third he was already four seconds adrift of the lead.

"It was a pretty exciting race," he said. "My start was not too bad but I was blocked behind Wittmann and I couldn't go anywhere at the first corner.

"I had an interesting battle with my team-mate Dan, which was quite fun. After I got past I tried to push for some laps to make a gap, but then I took it safe until the end because for the qualification race it is important to finish.

"I was feeling good. I wasn't really pushing hard - so it's all good for tomorrow."