Macau GP: Nael wins thrilling main race as Slater crashes out

Theo Nael scored victory in a thrilling Macau Grand Prix with a double pass into Lisboa, as polesitter Freddie Slater crashed out of second place.

Pinnacle Motorsport driver Nael was running third behind his team-mate Mari Boya and Enzo Deligny at the final safety car restart with two laps to go, and catapulted ahead thanks to the slipstream on the long run down to Lisboa.

With the safety car being called again shortly after, that pass sealed the win for Nael, who led a Pinnacle 1-2 ahead of Aston Martin junior driver Boya. R-ace GP's Deligny completed the podium in third.

For the bulk of the 15-lap race, the lead was fought between Boya and Slater, who lost out to his fellow front-row starter on the opening lap having started from pole.

A five-car pileup at San Francisco brought out the first safety car almost immediately, which offered Formula Regional European champion Slater the chance to repass Boya with an expertly-judged move around the outside at Lisboa.

With the pace advantage in the mountain section, it looked as if it would be plain sailing for Slater, but a crash for Oscar Wurz brought out the safety car for a second time.

At the second restart with five laps to go, Boya used the slipstream to great effect to get back around Slater.

Later on that lap, Slater ran slightly off-line heading through R Bend and swiped the barriers, taking the left-rear corner off his Prema machine and bringing out the safety car again.

That left Boya fending off Deligny and Nael at the final restart, but it was Nael who managed to get the advantage by going all the way around the outside of his two rivals into Lisboa.

Freddie Slater, SJM Theodore Prema Racing (Photo by: Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee)

Two separate clashes further back – one involving Rashid Al Dhaheri and Toyota-backed Jin Nakamura exiting Lisboa, the other involving Charles Leong and Tokiya Suzuki at Mandarin – brought out the safety car, with the race finishing under yellows.

Behind the leading trio, Red Bull junior Mattia Colnaghi was fourth for PHM Racing, while Honda protege Taito Kato passed ART Grand Prix team-mate Evan Giltaire for fifth.

Mercedes protege Noah Stromsted was seventh for Trident, ahead of newly-minted McLaren junior Matteo de Palo (R-ace), Toyota's Yuki Sano (TOM’S) and Jose Garfias (PHM).

Macau GP results

Cla	Driver	Entrant	Laps	Time	Delay/Retirement
1	Théophile Naël	KCMG ENYA by Pinnacle Motorsport	15	43'01.466
2	Mari Boya	KCMG ENYA by Pinnacle Motorsport	15	43'01.716	0.250
3	Enzo Deligny	R-ace GP	15	43'02.596	1.130
4	Mattia Colnaghi	PHM Racing	15	43'03.444	1.978
5	Taito Kato	ART Grand Prix	15	43'03.788	2.322
6	Evan Giltaire	ART Grand Prix	15	43'04.037	2.571
7	Noah Strømsted	Trident Motorsport	15	43'05.072	3.606
8	Matteo De Palo	R-ace GP	15	43'05.606	4.140
9	Yuki Sano	TOM'S Formula	15	43'06.186	4.720
10	José Garfias	PHM Racing	15	43'06.487	5.021
11	Kanato Le	ART Grand Prix	15	43'06.700	5.234
12	Hiyu Yamakoshi	Evans GP	15	43'07.004	5.538
13	T.Kucharczyk	Van Amersfoort Racing	15	43'07.303	5.837
14	James Egozi	Sainteloc Racing	15	43'07.454	5.988
15	Enzo Yeh	PHM Racing	15	43'08.152	6.686
16	T.Inthraphuvasak	Trident Motorsport	15	43'09.155	7.689
17	Owen Tangavelou	Sainteloc Racing	15	43'09.437	7.971
18	Charlie Wurz	Evans GP	15	43'09.745	8.279
19	Jin Nakamura	R-ace GP	14	39'29.502	1 lap
20	R.Al Dhaheri	SJM Theodore PREMA Racing	13	36'23.507	2 laps
21	Charles Leong	SJM Theodore PREMA Racing	13	36'25.658	2 laps
22	Tokiya Suzuki	TOM'S Formula	13	36'25.888	2 laps
(5)	Freddie Slater	SJM Theodore PREMA Racing	11	30'12.565	Retirement
(24)	Oscar Wurz	Evans GP	8	22'12.849	Retirement
	Kiyoshi Umegaki	Van Amersfoort Racing	0	-	Retirement
	R.Seewooruthun	Trident Motorsport	0	-	Retirement
	Zhenrui Chi	Van Amersfoort Racing	0	-	Retirement

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