Marciello to start Macau GP Qualification Race from pole

Raffaele Marciello

Raffaele Marciello will start Saturday’s Qualification Race from pole position, thanks to a stunningly fast last-minute lap from the recently-crowned FIA Formula 3 European Champion.

The D88.com Prema Powerteam driver was fairly anonymous through the first three official sessions of the weekend, his best effort eighth in the first practice session on Thursday. But Marciello still had some cards up his sleeve, a remarkable 2m11.555s lap sealing pole for the 10-lap race.

"I didn’t push at all in the first sessions, so I think I had a lot of margin," he said. "In qualifying I took a good slip stream and managed to do a good lap. It will be a difficult race, but I think we are consistent and we can do a good job tomorrow.

Raffaele Marciello

"I’m really proud. To be second, third or fourth is not a big deal here in qualifying, but for sure I’m proud, because it’s such a famous circuit."

Marciello's late lap knocked Felix Rosenqvist off the top of the times, the Swede forced to settle for second in the GR Asia with Mücke entry, while last year’s pole-sitter Alex Lynn (Theodore Racing by Prema) was third – despite being almost 1.5s faster than his pole time from 2012.

Raffaele Marciello

Lucas Auer made it three Prema cars in the top four, recovering from his practice crash to round out the second row in the other Theodore Racing-branded car.

Last year’s winner Antonio Felix da Costa was the best-placed Carlin car back in fifth, with the Fortec pair of Tom Blomqvist and Pipo Derani in sixth and seventh.

The session was interrupted by three separate red flag incidents. Katsumasa Chiyo (B-Max Engineering), Sun Zheng (Galaxy Double R) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Double R) all took trips into the wall.

Lineup

Pos Driver Team/Car Time Behind
1. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 2m11.555s +0.000s
2. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m11.622s +0.067s
3. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 2m11.639s +0.084s
4. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 2m12.052s +0.497s
5. Antonio Felix da Costa Carlin Dallara-VW 2m12.083s +0.528s
6. Tom Blomqvist Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m12.111s +0.556s
7. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m12.144s +0.589s
8. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 2m12.225s +0.670s
9. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 2m12.409s +0.854s
10. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 2m12.616s +1.061s
11. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 2m12.698s +1.143s
12. Will Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m12.768s +1.213s
13. Kevin Korjus Double R Dallara-Merc 2m13.053s +1.498s
14. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW 2m13.173s +1.618s
15. Esteban Ocon Prema Dallara-Merc 2m13.333s +1.778s
16. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 2m13.551s +1.996s
17. Yuhi Sekiguchi Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m13.833s +2.278s
18. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 2m13.938s +2.383s
19. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 2m14.018s +2.463s
20. Yuichi Nakayama TOM'S Dallara-Toyota 2m14.308s +2.753s
21. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-Merc 2m14.310s +2.755s
22. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m14.570s +3.015s
23. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 2m14.657s +3.102s
24. Nelson Mason Zeller Dallara-Merc 2m14.706s +3.151s
25. Ed Jones Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m14.975s +3.420s
26. Sun Zheng Double R Dallara-Merc 2m18.912s +7.357s
27. Stefano Coletti Eurointernational Dallara-Merc No Time
28. Katsumasa Chiyo B-Max Dallara-Toyota No Time

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