...despite tenacious street fightSteven Kane and the Promatecme UK squad put in a fighting performance at the 52nd Macau Grand Prix over the weekend but were ultimately frustrated to be classified in 20th position.
Kane, in his red and white Lola B05/40 had been in 12th position and the top British driver but an excursion caused by fading brakes on the penultimate lap of the race saw him slip down the order.
The tortuous 3.8 mile street circuit on the Portuguese enclave saw many cars exit the race but Kane, who was recovering all the time from losing a session and a half during the practice days due to an oil leak, stayed in contention for a top ten position in the final stages of the 15 lap race.
“I managed to pass a couple of cars at the start and then picked a few more off in the early stage of the race,” said Kane afterwards. “The car was improving all the time and felt as good as it had all weekend. We made quite a few changes to the car after the warm up and it made a big difference. The problem was that we were so far down the grid after the problems in practice and qualifying that it was difficult making significant progress.”
Fighting back from his qualifying tribulations, which also included contact with a barrier, Kane’s race came to end on lap 13 when he locked the brakes, inducing a moment at the Maternity Bend right hander.
“I missed the barrier but the car stalled and that was it,” said the Ulsterman. “Overall we were always catching up and that is so difficult here. There are positive aspects to take from the weekend such as Lola taking away some good data and the fact that I set a good race lap ( a 2m13.618s, just 1.6 from the fastest overall). It was also my first street race so it was vital experience.”
On Saturday Kane finished in 18th place in the qualification race, gaining six places, to set his grid position for the Grand Prix itself.
Brazilian Lucas Di Grassi took the win after an entertaining battle with Polish driver Robert Kubica. Ex Lola F3 driver Joao Paulo De Oliveira finished a fine 4th while 2004 British F3 race winner, in a Lola-Dome, Danny Watts retired after being caught up in a collision with Dan Clarke and Charlie Kimball.
Lola now turn their attentions to 2006 when significantly updated cars will race in the UK and Europe.
RACE RESULTS
Pos - Driver - Make-Engine - Time
1. Lucas Di Grassi Dallara Mercedes-HWA 40:49.730
2. Robert Kubica Dallara Honda-Mugen/NB + 0.659
3. Sebastian Vettel Dallara Mercedes-HWA + 3.924
4. Joao P De Oliveira Dallara Toyota-Tom's + 7.003
5. Kazuki Nakajima Dallara Toyota-Tom's + 8.619
6. Loic Duval Dallara Mercedes-HWA + 8.705
7. Christian Bakkerud Dallara Honda-Mugen/NB + 11.185
8. Paolo Montin Dallara Honda-Mugen/NB + 12.490
9. Romain Grosjean Dallara Opel-Spiess + 13.007
10. Franck Perera Dallara Opel-Spiess + 13.290
11. Guillaume Moreau Dallara Opel-Spiess + 13.890
12. Fabio Carbone SLC Opel-Spiess + 16.445
13. Karl Reindler Dallara Honda-Mugen/NB + 17.334
14. Mike Conway Dallara Mercedes-HWA + 17.808
15. Michael Ho Dallara Toyota-Tom's + 26.120
16. Rodolfo Avila Dallara Mercedes HWA + 28.615
17. Daisuke Ikeda Dallara Toyota-Tom's + 1 Lap
18. Lei Kit Meng Dallara Opel-Spiess + 1 Lap
19. Jo Merszei Dallara Honda-Mugen/NB + 1 Lap
20. Steven Kane Lola Honda-Mugen/NB + 2 Laps
NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:
Driver - Make-Engine - On lap
Cheong Lou Meng Dallara Honda-Mugen/NB 10
Dan Clarke Dallara Opel-Spiess 9
Charlie Kimball Dallara Honda-Mugen/NB 9
Danny Watts Dallara Toyota-Tom's 9
Stephen Jelley Dallara Opel-Spiess 8
Naoki Yokomizo Dallara Nissan-Tomei 4
Fillip Salaquarda Dallara Opel-Spiess 3
Kohei Hirate Dallara Opel-Spiess 1
Bruno Senna Dallara Honda-Mugen/NB 1
Fastest lap: Duval, 2:11.929 on lap 9
