Sato dominates Macau Grand Prix

[Werner333]

Sato heeft de F3 race in Macao gewonnen.
En nu op naar de F1.

Takuma Sato lived up to pre-event expectations when he dominated Sunday's Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix. The Japanese ace, who will race for Jordan in Formula 1 next year, fought off intense pressure from one of the strongest fields in recent years to claim victory in both the preliminary qualifying heat and the main event.

"I am totally happy now," said Sato, who showed his delight by doing his trademark jump on the podium. "This is obviously my last major F3 Grand Prix race ever and I am so happy to come back here. It is always difficult to race here but in the end I drove so hard, enjoyed my racing and won."

It was a far from straightforward day for any of the drivers, though, as a series of incidents brought drama and excitement to the thousands of spectators who attended the event. The first race of the day had to be red flagged on the first lap following two spectacular accidents. Two safety car periods followed at the restart.

Sato had taken the lead from poleman Bjorn Wirdheim after the first safety car period and went on to win. He made sure to maintain his advantage at the start of the second race by making a brillinat getaway and fought off intense pressure from Paolo Montin into the first corner. He made sure to make the most of his lead and pushed incredibly hard to ensure his 1.4 second lead at the end of the first lap.

Although Benoit Treluyer, who had moved up to seccond on the first lap when Montin dropped back, tried as hard as he could to close the gap, there was nothing he could do to stop Sato roaring away to a famous victory. Wirdheim shadowed Treluyer all the way but could do little to find a way past and was happy to finish third on his first visit.

1 Takuma Sato, Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda, 30
2 Benoit Treluyer, Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda, 30
3 Bjorn Wirdheim, Dallara F301 Spiess-Opel, 30
4 Kousuke Matsuura, Dallara F301 Spiess-Opel, 30
5 Yuji Ide, Dallara F399 Sodemo-Renault, 30
6 Matteo Bobbi, Dallara F301 Spiess-Opel, 30
7 Peter Hackett, Dallara F300 Mugen-Honda, 30
8 Heikki Kovalainen, Dallara F301 Sodemo-Renault, 30
9 Michael Ho, Dallara F301 Spiess-Opel, 30
10 Lei Kit Meng, Dallara F301 Sodemo-Renault, 29
11 Paolo Montin, Dallara F301 TOM's-Toyota, 29
12 Jo Merszei, Dallara F301 Spiess-Opel, 29
13 Tiago Monteiro, Dallara F399 Sodemo-Renault, 28
14 Tristan Gommendy, Dallara F399 Sodemo-Renault, 28
15 Haruki Kurosawa, Dallara F399 Spiess-Opel, 27

Fastest lap: Derek Hayes, Dallara F300 Mugen-Honda, 2m12.9s, 102.99mph

Bron: http://www.autosport.com

[Alain]

Of course. Ik had niet anders verwacht...
Go, Go Takuma !!!!!