Macau F3: Felix Rosenqvist to the top in Friday practice
Felix Rosenqvist went fastest in free practice on the second day of the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix meeting as he continues to look a major contender for victory
The anticipated heavy rain held off, and it also appears as though it will be dry for qualifying, meaning that teams concentrated on finding dry-weather set-ups for both qualifying and the races.
Rosenqvist, Daniel Juncadella and Antonio Felix da Costa were covered by just 0.037 seconds, although the Swede's Mucke Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes was fastest for most of the session.
"We did a good time in the beginning and then we were only trying different things with the downforce," said Rosenqvist. "We did four stints, and I got a good feeling for how the car is when the tyres start to get old. Everything feels relaxed for me."
Read more about all the Formula 3 and World Touring Car action in our rolling Macau GP news blog.
Juncadella and the Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes team, and overnight polesitter da Costa and his Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen squad, also worked on set-ups.
Da Costa twice had completed personal best middle sectors before being called into the pits, and his theoretical best lap over the three sectors would have put him fastest.
The big surprise was Kevin Korjus, who in his first serious F3 event was fourth fastest in the lead Double R Racing Dallara-Mercedes. The Estonian also has the benefit of more fresh rubber than his rivals due to only using one set all day on Thursday after going off early in the first free practice session.
The flamboyant Carlos Sainz Jr put his Carlin car fifth, with Mucke's Pascal Wehrlein sixth.
Down in 10th was Felipe Nasr, who found his Carlin machine bottoming too much after making an experimental change on set-up and brushed the wall at Moorish Hill.
Once again there were crashes, with Luis Sa Silva making his first acquaintance with the Macau walls when he dropped it at Police in the closing stages. Yuichi Nakayama had his second shunt of the weekend when he dropped it at San Francisco Bend right at the end of the session.
Neither of them caused a red flag, although there was a stoppage at the start of the session, caused by a problem with one of the fences around the circuit.
Meanwhile, mechanical problems hampered Tom Blomqvist, whose EuroInternational Dallara-VW had a broken gearshift cable after just six laps. After repairs, he went out later on to find that the fix had worked.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 2m13.958s 2. Daniel Juncadella Prema Dallara-Mercedes 2m13.981s + 0.023s 3. Antonio Felix da Costa Carlin Dallara-VW 2m13.995s + 0.037s 4. Kevin Korjus Double R Dallara-Mercedes 2m14.137s + 0.179s 5. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW 2m14.150s + 0.192s 6. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 2m14.381s + 0.423s 7. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 2m14.401s + 0.443s 8. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 2m14.441s + 0.483s 9. Daniel Abt Carlin Dallara-VW 2m14.454s + 0.496s 10. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 2m14.470s + 0.512s 11. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 2m14.665s + 0.707s 12. Alex Lynn Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 2m14.782s + 0.824s 13. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Mercedes 2m14.846s + 0.888s 14. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 2m14.938s + 0.980s 15. Hannes Vanasseldonk Prema Dallara-Mercedes 2m15.013s + 1.055s 16. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 2m15.080s + 1.122s 17. Will Buller Carlin Dallara-VW 2m15.302s + 1.344s 18. Hideki Yamauchi B-Max Dallara-Toyota 2m15.363s + 1.405s 19. Sven Muller Prema Dallara-Mercedes 2m15.434s + 1.476s 20. Tom Blomqvist Euro International Dallara-VW 2m15.445s + 1.487s 21. Jimmy Eriksson Double R Dallara-Mercedes 2m15.680s + 1.722s 22. Jazeman Jaafar TOM'S Dallara-Toyota 2m16.075s + 2.117s 23. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 2m16.449s + 2.491s 24. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Mercedes 2m16.582s + 2.624s 25. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m16.789s + 2.831s 26. Lucas Auer Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m16.800s + 2.842s 27. Yuichi Nakayama TOM'S Dallara-Toyota 2m17.106s + 3.148s 28. Luis Sa Silva Angola Dallara-Mercedes 2m17.382s + 3.424s 29. Andrea Roda Jo Zeller Dallara-Mercedes 2m18.152s + 4.194s 30. Ryo Hirakawa RSS Dallara-Toyota 2m18.218s + 4.260s
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