Eriksson beats Norris to Macau GP pole

Joel Eriksson

BMW junior Joel Eriksson beat McLaren protege Lando Norris to pole position for the Macau Grand Prix qualifying race, as the European Formula 3 title rivals resumed battle.

Carlin driver Norris, who took provisional pole yesterday, was the first driver to dip into the 2m10s during Friday's session at the Guia Circuit, clocking a 2:10.744.

Shortly afterwards, Motopark's Eriksson, who finished runner-up to Norris in European F3, edged in front by 0.024s, setting up the prospect of a head-to-head battle.

However, with five minutes left on the clock, the session was red flagged when Guanyu Zhou hit the wall and ground to a halt with significant damage, disrupting a host of runs.

Norris had been gearing up for another run on fresh tires at this stage, but was denied the opportunity, and remained in the pits as the session resumed.

Eriksson led the charge back out on track and, although he did not improve his time, had enough in hand to secure top spot for Saturday's encounter.

Callum Ilott, who was hurt by traffic and Zhou's red flag, managed to snatch third, ahead of Theodore team-mate Maximilian Gunther.

Carlin's Ferdinand Habsburg hit the barriers and limped back to the pits just before Zhou's crash, dropping to fifth on the grid when Ilott improved late on.

Dan Ticktum (Motopark) was hindered by the slow-moving Habsburg en route to sixth, followed by Mick Schumacher (Theodore), who also found time after teammate Zhou's crash.

Yuhi Sekiguchi placed eighth for the B-Max Racing Team, Sergio Sette Camara secured ninth, despite also crashing heavily, while Zhou completed the top 10.

Jehan Daruvala (Carlin) and 'Dragon' (B-Max) also crashed during a heavily-interrupted session.

Results