Asian Motor Sports

Japan’s Keisuke Kunimoto took a surprise victory in the Windsor Arch Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix on Sunday as his TOM’S Racing team took their second consecutive win in the blue riband event.

Kunimoto, making his first appearance in Macau, got away better than pole position man Edoardo Mortara from second spot on the grid - and managed to fight off his rival all the way down to Lisboa Bend.

Behind the leading duo, however, there was chaos as Roberto Streit collided with Sam Bird as he tried to defend the position. Streit speared into the barriers on the right hand side of the track before spinning across the circuit.

The Safety Car was called out to allow officials to retrieve the two stricken cars, and at the restart on lap three Kunimoto was able to maintain his advantage - as Mortara briefly hit trouble.

The Italian had locked up under braking for Lisboa on lap four, and the incident allowed Daniel Campos-Hull and Jaime Alguesuari past him. Mortara was able to recover third from Campos-Hull on lap six, and then moved up to second when Alguesuari was handed a drive-through penalty for jumping the start.

Mortara then began closing down on Kunimoto’s lead before another Safety Car period on lap eight, after Robert Merhi had crashed heavily at R Bend.

At the restart on lap 10, Kunimoto managed to edge clear - and it all went wrong for Mortara when he hit the wall in the hill section and slightly damaged his car.

Although able to continue and trim the gap to Kunimoto, he could not get close enough to launch a challenge for the lead and eventually finished 1.7 seconds behind. Brendon Hartley finished third, having started 20th but benefited from a number of incidents in the race that moved him up the field.

Speaking about his win, Kunimoto said: “I cannot believe this result, but my TOM’S team is the best in the world and that is why I could get on top of the podium.”

Q & A With Keisuke Kunimoto:

Q. When you arrived here before the race, were you expecting to be standing here on Sunday on the top step of the podium?

Keisuke Kunimoto: “I didn’t expect that I would be in the middle of the podium. Everything went very well and that is it.

Q. What was the secret to your weekend turning around? In practice you did not do much, and then suddenly in second qualifying you were right on the pace.

KK: “Yes, I was quite slow in practice. I was just learning the circuit because it was my first time here. That was my plan to try and get on the podium here.”

Q. Where did you find the speed in qualifying then?

KK: “Qualifying was quite lucky, because Carlo (van Dam, TOM’S teammate) was in front of me, so I got a quite good slipstream. That is why I got a good lap time.”

Q. Did Carlo help you a lot this weekend in terms of setup and advice for how to deal with the Macau Grand Prix?

KK: “Yes. I think the driving of the track was the main thing, because we didn’t change the setup that much - just a little. So, it was just a question of driving.”

Q. In the qualification race yesterday Edoardo Mortara overtook you, but you said at the time you didn’t care as it was only qualifying. Were you confident yesterday you could be as quick as you were today?

KK: “Yes, of course. Edoardo is a very fast driver and I think he was stronger than me yesterday – but today we were the same. So it was just a question of changing my mindset – to push harder and it just went my way.”

Q. So you were much more aggressive today then?

KK: “Of course, I was pushing harder – and also having fun. That was the most important thing for the race I think.”

Q. Were you aware that you needed to build up a big gap at the restarts, because of the way Mortara used his tyres?

KK: “I think what was important was that after the safety car, I was pretty fast. So I could get a good gap from him – which meant pushing after that was easy.”

Q. Were you mindful that he was closing in?

KK: “I didn’t care. I didn’t look for him.”

Q. What does this result mean for next year? Does it change your plans?

KK: “I don’t know yet. I am a member of TDP (Toyota Young Drivers Programme), so they decide where I go next year.”

Q. So do you think you will stay in F3, or can you see yourself moving up now?

KK: “I don’t want to say!”