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Hitech Racing came home as leading British F3 team with
fourth place in today’s Polytec Formula 3 Grand Prix in Macau. Estonian
Marko Asmer had consistently been the quickest of the Lloyds TSB Insurance British
F3 International Series runners over the course of the weekend, the 2007
champion just unable to add the coveted Macau crown
to his already impressive record.
Starting from second on the grid following his superb
runner-up spot in yesterday’s qualifier, the 23 year-old made a good
start but got squeezed out on the entry to the first corner, dropping to fourth
as the pack arrived at Lisboa. A spirited drive from the youngster soon saw
him back up to third and looking to retake second when the safety car was
deployed on lap eight to retrieve the stricken car of Franck Mailleux.
At the restart a charging Kodai Tsukakoshi found a way
past dropping Marko back down to fourth, and despite setting the race fastest
lap, and establishing a new lap record on the way, had to settle just outside
the podium positions.
His young team-mate Austrian Walter Grubmüller continued
to make excellent progress, the 18 year-old F3 rookie gaining three seconds a
lap over the course of the weekend. His personal best lap, achieved in the
final stages of the race underlined his consistent improvement as he recorded
18th at the finish.
The team’s third driver Michael Ho persevered with
an overheating clutch, sustained as a result of the lengthy safety car period,
and eventually finished 24th in the 15 lap race.
Results of the Polytec Formula 3 Grand
Prix of Macau – 15 laps
1. Oliver Jarvis Team Reckless Tom's Dallara-Toyota Tom's
38min 29.452secs
2. Kodai Tsukakoshi Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes
+1.767secs
3. Kazuya Oshima Team Reckless Tom's Dallara-Toyota Tom's
+4.390secs
4. Marko Asmer
Hitech Racing Dallara-Mercedes +5.331secs
5. Roberto Streit Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes
+6.558secs
6. Sam Bird Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes +7.148secs
18. Walter
Grubmüller Hitech Racing Dallara-Mercedes +26.631secs
24. Michael Ho
Hitech Racing Dallara-Mercedes +1 lap
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