Daniel Ticktum has continued his FIA F3 World Cup defence in commanding fashion by taking a dominant Qualification Race victory in Macau.
The Red Bull academy driver had briefly lost the lead on the run down to Lisboa as Carlin’s Callum Ilott got a great run into the legendary corner. The British driver only just made the move stick, with the rear of his car clipping the barrier on the exit of the turn.
The Ferrari-backed driver soon struggled for pace on the opening lap and soon became a sitting duck when Ticktum slipstreamed behind him on lap two. Ticktum had completed the move before they reached Lisboa, from there he tore away from the field.
Ticktum had to contend with one safety car period during the race which was called for when a dog had unfortunately found its way on to the track. The 2017 Macau winner dealt with the restart with ease before going on to cruise home for the win.
Ilott was unable to keep the fast charging Joel Eriksson behind him either, as the Swede made a courageous move on the run to Lisboa, which had already followed an eye-catching pass by Carlin’s Sacha Fenestraz.
Fenestraz held onto fourth until the finish but there was drama behind on the final lap when fifth-placed Chinaman Guan Yu Zhou crashed out, hitting the barrier heavily on the run to Police Corner.
Zhou's incident promoted Hitech GP’s Jake Hughes up to fifth and newly-crowned FIA F3 European Champion Mick Schumacher to sixth, giving the SJM Theodore Racing Prema driver a chance to fight towards the front in Sunday's feature race.
Red Bull-backed Juri Vips produced arguably the most impressive drive as he blasted his way from 14th on the grid to cross the line in seventh.
A trio of SJM Theodore Racing Prema drivers completed the top 10 with Marcus Armstrong getting the better of team-mates Ralf Aron and Robert Shwartzman.
Dan Ticktum said: "It’s been a good weekend so far. After the first two laps, it was quite plain sailing, we were able to build a good gap. Callum got past me on the first lap and I had a few challenges thrown at me early on, but after that, I was able to get into a good rhythm.
"My biggest rival tomorrow will be Joel I think because I believe Motopark has the best car, which is great for the team. It should be a good clean race tomorrow and hopefully, I can come out on top."
The finishing classification from the qualification race will be the grid for Sunday's main event.
The FIA F3 World Cup will take place at 15:30 local time on Sunday for the prestigious Macau Grand Prix.
