Van Dam takes pole position for Macau GP

Carlo Van Dam

Carlo van Dam secured a last-gasp pole position for the Windsor Arch F3 Macau Grand Prix Qualification Race on Friday when he grabbed the top spot on the final lap of qualifying.

The TOM’S driver had seen Manor Motorsport’s Sam Bird move to the head of the timesheets just moments before a red flag was brought out for the crashed car of Kei Cozzolino, who had hit the wall at Fishermen’s Bend with less than four minutes of the session remaining.

It meant that van Dam had just one lap to improve his best effort, and he duly did that – luckily being on the track ahead of a collision between Max Chilton and Stefano Coletti that blocked the track.

“I was confident I would be able to improve," said van Dam. “On the second last run I hit the guardrail at Turn 9, so on the last few laps my steering wasn’t easy. But we did it – and although the race tomorrow is just another qualifying session, it is looking good so far."

Carlo Van Dam of Holland in his Toyota powered car beat the once dominant Mercedes powered cars

Bird duly finished second on the timesheets, but he will only start fifth on the grid after being handed a three-place grid penalty for missing a weighbridge check in the morning’s free practice session.

Carlo Van Dam

His relegation meant that van Dam’s teammate Keisuke Kunimoto will start alongside him on the front row – one place ahead of Edoardo Mortara, who had been on provisional pole position.

Mortara admitted he had mixed feelings about the result. “Third is a good position on the grid because only the final race counts, but if you start at the front it is easier to win," he said.

Roberto Streit marked his return to F3 with fourth place on the grid, ahead of Bird, with Roberto Merhi claiming sixth.
Frenchman Jules Bianchi caused the other red flag of the session when he hit the wall at R Bend with 12 minutes to go and ripped a wheel off his car.

Final Qualifying Results

POS

NO CL DRIVER NAT TEAM TIME LAPS GAP
1 1 Carlo VAN DAM NED Tom's 2:11.846 20 0.000
2 21 Sam BIRD GBR Manor Motorsport 2:11.988 19 0.142
3 2 Keisuke KUNIMOTO JPN Tom's 2:12.039 20 0.193
4 7 Edoardo MORTARA ITA Signature Plus 2:12.044 20 0.198
5 11 Roberto STREIT BRA Raikkonen-Robertson Racing 2:12.061 20 0.215
6 20 Roberto MERHI ESP Hitech Racing 2:12.369 18 0.523
7 16 Renger van der ZANDE NED Prema Powerteam 2:12.402 19 0.556
8 3 Oliver TURVEY GBR Carlin Motorsport 2:12.404 21 0.558
9 4 Jaime ALGUERSUARI ESP Carlin Motorsport 2:12.412 18 0.566
10 15 James JAKES GBR ART Grand Prix 2:12.423 19 0.577
11 5 Brendon HARTLEY NZL Carlin Motorsport 2:12.573 20 0.727
12 17 Stefano COLETTI MON Prema Powerteam 2:12.835 15 0.989
13 18 Max CHILTON GBR Hitech Racing 2:12.869 18 1.023
14 9 Mika MAKI FIN Signature Plus 2:12.942 20 1.096
15 6 Marcus ERICSSON SWE Carlin Motorsport 2:12.988 18 1.142
16 22 Kazuya OSHIMA JPN Manor Motorsport 2:13.110 18 1.264
17 14 Jules BIANCHI FRA ART Grand Prix 2:13.124 12 1.278
18 24 Kei COZZOLINO ITA Now Motor Sports 2:13.504 17 1.658
19 19 Walter GRUBMULLER AUT Hitech Racing 2:13.710 19 1.864
20 8 CHENG Cong Fu CHN Signature Plus 2:13.777 17 1.931
21 28 Daniel CAMPOS-HULL ESP HBR Motorsport 2:14.325 18 2.479
22 27 James WINSLOW GBR Ombra Racing 2:14.399 18 2.553
23 23 Jon LANCASTER GBR Manor Motorsport 2:14.620 20 2.774
24 29 Basil SHAABAN LEB HBR Motorsport 2:15.412 19 3.566
25 25 Koki SAGA JPN Le Beausset Motorsports 2:15.969 18 4.123
26 10 Atte MUSTONEN FIN Raikkonen-Robertson Racing 2:16.029 6 4.183
27 12 Michael HO MAC Raikkonen-Robertson Racing 2:18.606 13 6.760
28 26 Massaki MATSUSHITA JPN PTRS by Ombra 2:18.667 8 6.821
Over Max. Lap Time 2:25.030
30 Laurens VANTHOOR BEL RC Motorsport 14:41.195 1 12:29.349
31 Nicola de MARCO ITA RC Motorsport

Scenes from Macau