Motaworld Racing, the Chatham, UK-based motorsport team, reigned supreme in Macau, China on Sunday when two of its drivers finished first and second in the final round of the Formula BMW Pacific single-seater series. The race supported the blue riband 55th Macau Grand Prix for Formula Three cars and the World Touring Car Championship round.

In a thrilling finish Rumania’s Mihai Marinescu, 19, held on to win by less than a length from his Motaworld team-mate, Michael Christensen, 18, from Denmark.

The Dane had been quickest during free practice and then he went on to qualify on the front row alongside pole-sitter Marinescu, so before the start he was really confident.

He said “The car is fast enough and I can win from this position.”

Indeed, the Formula BMW Europe Rookie of the Year made the better start and for much of the race he fought wheel-to-wheel with his team-mate. But eventually he was forced to settle for second place after Marinescu had set a stunning fastest lap of 2m 30.153s around the tricky, 6.12km Guia street circuit.

After free practice all the smart money was on Motaworld as Christensen and Marinescu had topped the timesheets and the team’s third driver, Ollie Millroy was sitting pretty in fourth spot. But then during the qualifying session the Claygate, Surrey teenager, one of Britain’s brightest prospects, crashed out after only one lap.

Consequently Millroy was forced to start from the back of the grid, but he recovered well and stormed through the field to finish an impressive tenth.

Team owner Alan Waite said “It was a fantastic weekend for Motaworld. We had three good drivers in our cars and they all worked well with our engineers and driver coach to produce an outstanding result.”

RESULT: 1 Mihai Marinescu (ROM) Motaworld Racing; 2 Michael Christensen (DEN) Motaworld Racing; 3 Kimiya Sato (JPN) Eurasia Motorsport; 4 Gabriel Chaves (COL) Atlantic Racing.