59th Macau Grand Prix - FIA F3 Intercontinental Cup

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

"Louis Hamilton"... Nice name.

The track was wet, I guess this partly explains the enormous gaps.

[bella]

not partly, fully explains the enormous gap. no point in shunting cars when you've got 2 races to go tomorrow!

[tux]

Korjus must have had some problems? How did Dittmann out qualify Korjus in a car 7 years older than Korjus had? I mean all respect to Dittmann he is a handy driver but youd expect Korjus to be much better than that.

And Da Costa, 9 seconds? that is ridiculous even if it was wet.

[Alfaholic]

Originally Posted by tux

Korjus must have had some problems? How did Dittmann out qualify Korjus in a car 7 years older than Korjus had? I mean all respect to Dittmann he is a handy driver but youd expect Korjus to be much better than that.

And Da Costa, 9 seconds? that is ridiculous even if it was wet.

It wasn't just wet - the track was streaming with water after a morning of heavy rain/sleet/hail, approx 4°C of air temperature and a very strong northerly wind plus a red flag cutting short the qualifying which had already been interrupted by a previous red flag explains the gaps.

[tux]

I apologise then, i didnt think it was as wet as you mentioned.

[tux]

So, Da Costa won race 1 in the damp this morning at snetterton by 55 seconds to Korjus. His fastest lap was 7 seconds quicker than Korjus`s.

[Valker]

Race 1 fastest laps:

Felix da Costa – 1.58,128
CLIFFE – 2.04,008
Korjus – 2.05,129

[strider]

To be fair, da Costa is very much the man of the moment. He won both of the FR3.5 races at Barcelona last weekend comfortably by margins that are exceptional in that series and he is bella's tip to win in Macau.

Cliffe may have lapped faster than Korjus, but he was 18 seconds behind him on the road.

[bella]

kevin's first f3 race too, da costa's been going round in them for a long time. for da costa i would say this weekend is a formality, for korjus it's an important learning experience.

[Valker]

Why Korjus didn't start in race 2?

[kaivo]

to keep costs low

[strider]

That's a shame, because the track was only damp, maybe cold as well, and mileage is what he needs. I guess he'll have some testing in the current car before Macau. This weekend was a necessary step to make him eligible.

[JohnMiller]

Originally Posted by strider

That's a shame, because the track was only damp, maybe cold as well, and mileage is what he needs. I guess he'll have some testing in the current car before Macau. This weekend was a necessary step to make him eligible.

Think he was at Silverstone last week.

[Hawkwood]

What level was this meeting?
Club F3? I confess to knowing nothing about Club F3 and its standard of drivers.
Just wondering because some of the guys there were 25-30 seconds slower than Felix da Costa.

[REALIST]

Speaking as an interested party, the qualifying session was a farce. The cars were held in Parc Ferme for 40 minutes waiting for a Radical race to end, whilst the rain and hail hammered down. The Radicals were running 30 to 40 seconds off the pace and one would have thought that would have indicated the state of the track.

The F3 cars were released onto a drenched track with deep standing water and rivulets running across at several points. The only single seaters, with the lowest ride height at the event were sent out with the track in its worst condition, even after the series organiser asked for the session to be delayed.

Three cars went off on the out lap, causing the first red. Two more went out, on standing water, on the first flying lap of the restart. No red flag was shown, even though two cars were in dangerous positions, for two more laps, when the rest of the field had then completed their mandatory three. That was the end of the session.

It seems it was too dangerous to run, but only once the remaining cars had met the mandatory requirement.

It would seem that the optimistically packed programme didn't allow for any concession to the weather or any consideration for the drivers and teams paying for the event. The last race ended in the dark at 6pm.

No national or international SS series would have been sent out in those conditions without a safety car, which is used in the F3 Cup, but it seems the club guys don't matter too much.

A very poor performance by MSVR, in my considered opinion, and something they should be ashamed of. An apology, of sorts, was offered today by an MSVR officer, but it is too little, too late.

Hope that explains why the qualifying positions seem odd.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by Ostrogothicus

Club F3? I confess to knowing nothing about Club F3 and its standard of drivers.
Just wondering because some of the guys there were 25-30 seconds slower than Felix da Costa.

Firstly, a bit of a disclaimer in that I wasn't at Snetterton this weekend; however, it is probably a fair to say that poor weather has a tendancy to increase gaps between drivers. Furthermore, the event was being run on the 300 circuit, which due to its length also adds to greater gaps between drivers. Whilst F3 Cup features some very good drivers at club racing level, Antonio Felix da Costa is held in some quarters as being the 'next big thing' so it perhaps a little unrealistic to expect all drivers to be on the same pace as him. A final point to note is that the championship accepts a wide range of cars in terms of age (from 1981, if memory serves). Whilst no car of this age was out at Snett, a mid 1990s car is probably going to be little match for a late 2000s model, particularly if well driven.

Originally Posted by REALIST

It would seem that the optimistically packed programme didn't allow for any concession to the weather or any consideration for the drivers and teams paying for the event. The last race ended in the dark at 6pm.

No national or international SS series would have been sent out in those conditions without a safety car, which is used in the F3 Cup, but it seems the club guys don't matter too much.

As I said above I wasn't there; however, in general terms there is a need for clubs to maximise the amount of races that take place on a given day in order to cover their costs. This does create problems when clubs are presented with poor weather (particularly as this time of year when light is limited) as waiting for weather to clear will generally mean that a session/race is cancelled or run entirely behind the safety car (which as far as qualifying goes would not be timed). Neither is a particularly attractive alternative (particularly for those who paid entry fees/travel and are faced with no tracktime), but then neither is car getting damaged in a shunt. The result is a very difficult choice for a Clerk. Obviously, safety is important, but it is a matter of judegement as to whether an event is safe to continue. A final alternative is for club's to make significant entry fee increases so that large gaps can be provided in timetables; however, this wouldn't be without controversy.

[Juntos]

Time to post the lap times of Macau GP testing at Silverstone. We are all hitching.

[strider]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Time to post the lap times of Macau GP testing at Silverstone. We are all hitching.

It wasn't an official test so there are no times. This is the most I have seen: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103886

[strider]

When is thread going to take off? The race is this weekend, everyone's out there and raring to go. I have no idea who is going to win, but it will be fascinating to see how it all unfolds.

Luckily Marcus Simmons will be there to report on the race for Autosport. There is no greater enthusiast for F3 nor anyone better to write about it.

[bella]

i think it'll start moving again when times start happening.

i can't wait to see how this one unravels. at least the amount of tracktime and the length of the weekend gives the story a decent chance to unravel

[ivanalesi]

Yeah, you're right. When FP1 finishes there will be more activity, right now there are few favourites but so many dark horses and you can only gamble on prediction. I really hope the Nissans to impress and also Tom's to be back on the pace.

[bella]

on a frivolous note, there's pictures of the carlin dragon paintjob on the macau gp facebook page, for example here... it looks ace!

[tbz]

Daniel Abt's car, just posted on twitter via @carlinracing

looks a bit like a Jordan F1.

[dank]

Who (if anybody) is showing coverage of the Macau Grand Prix in the UK this year?

[strider]

I wish people wouldn't post photos of great looking cars and guys wandering in shorts and T-shirts. I'm getting severe withdrawal symptoms here