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Macau Grand Prix: Carlin On The Pace In Macau
The Carlin team made an impressive start to the 56th Macau Grand Prix today, with a strong showing from British F3 champion Daniel Ricciardo and F3 Euro Series racer Brendon Hartley, who set the second and fourth quickest times respectively in first qualifying. Max Chilton also put in a solid performance to set the 13th fastest time of the day with Henry Arundel 27th on his first visit to Macau.
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Having finished third at Macau last year, Hartley fulfilled expectations as one of the front runners in the first practice session this morning. Despite it being his first time around the Guia circuit, Hartley’s fellow Red Bull racer Ricciardo was immediately on the pace, staying close to the more experienced Macau racers out on track. At the chequered flag, Hartley was third, with Ricciardo just behind in fourth, while Chilton was 16th and Arundel 29th.
The drivers returned to the track for the first qualifying session this afternoon, having made various set up changes to their cars. Once again Hartley and Ricciardo were near the top of the time sheets, with Hartley holding the top spot in the second half of the session. A flurry of activity in the closing stages of the session shuffled the order at the top, with Ricciardo taking provisional pole in the dying minutes. A red flag just over a minute before the end of the session brought things to an early conclusion, with Ricciardo now second behind Marcus Ericsson, Hartley fourth, Chilton improving to 13th and Arundel 27th.
Speaking about his first experience of Macau, Ricciardo said, "Today exceeded my expectations to be honest so I’m really happy. I’m overwhelmed by the circuit; it’s by far the best circuit I’ve driven on, I was smiling all the way round! We’re getting there with the car; we need to make a few small changes and I need to make some improvements too. Tomorrow we will be starting from a higher level, which we can then build on further to get a good grid spot for Saturday."
Team mate Hartley added, "I’m happy with the way things are going. The car feels good and I was P1 towards the end of the session. Unfortunately I was held up a bit and didn’t get a lap in at the very end, but it still feels like there’s some time left in the car, so I’m feeling pretty confident. It’s going well so far."
Carlin race director Trevor Carlin added, "The team did a great job today; Brendon did as we expected of him and is looking very strong, while Daniel surpassed our expectations with P2. Max is making good progress and I expect to see more from him tomorrow. Unfortunately Henry has picked up a stomach bug and it’s knocked all the strength out of him, but we’re confident he’ll move up the time sheets as his health improves. I think we’ve made a really promising start today, there’s definitely a lot of potential in the team ahead of the weekend."
Second practice will take place at 11.15 local time tomorrow, before the second qualifying session at 14.45 which will set the grid for Saturday’s Qualification Race.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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