Alex Lynn caused a sensation by taking pole position and finishing on the podium on his debut in the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix.Among what was regarded as one of the best fields of junior international racing talent ever assembled, Lynn became the first man since current Formula 1 star Kamui Kobayashi in 2006 to take pole as a rookie on the challenging street circuit. He then went on to finish third in both the qualification race and the main race in his Mercedes-powered Fortec Motorsport Dallara. The pole position on Friday – just one day after he first drove the track – meant that Lynn was the man everyone was talking about.
“The car felt good on new tyres,” said Alex. “I had Ryo Hirakawa in front of me and it’s important to line yourself up correctly to get a tow down the long flat-outstretch. I got in front of him and from then it was a clear lap, not crazy or out of control. I looked on my dash with two corners to go and saw I was up on time, and thought it could be all right. It was!”
Lynn had gone fourth fastest in opening qualifying, after sitting on top of the times with a few minutes remaining. But this time he stayed in front to take pole by 0.278 seconds, ahead of Red Bull test driver Antonio Felix da Costa and 2012 Macau GP winner Daniel Juncadella. In the qualification race he lost out in the slipstreaming to the first corner and dropped to third. He chased da Costa and Felix Rosenqvist all the way to the finish.
“I didn’t get the start I wanted but the pace was really good,” he said. “I had Carlos Sainz Jr behind me but I got away from him. “I was catching Felix but with two or three laps to go I had a moment on the mountain and decided to consolidate what I had.” That meant he was third on the grid for the final.
Lynn and da Costa slipstreamed past Rosenqvist on the run to the Lisboa turn, but Alex’s compromised angle of turn-in meant he ran wide and Rosenqvist repassed him on exit. From then, the trio chased each other around the famous Macau track for 15 laps in a breathless race. Lynn finished third, and was best rookie, less than 2.5 seconds from victory.
“I thought I had to have a go down to the first corner,” said Alex, who is a member of the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy, the MSA’s Team UK and the British Racing Drivers Club’s SuperStars programme. “I managed to get Felix but I was delayed turning in and he got the undercut on exit. We pressed on and pulled a gap to the cars behind, but it was a bit difficult to get close enough to pass, because although I was in the tow of Felix he was in the tow of Antonio so it cancelled out. “It’s been an amazing week though and it goes back to the preparation we all did at Fortec. The team were really fast this weekend and it was a nice way to sign off my Fortec career.”
Lynn will now get a couple of weeks off before beginning his testing programme in December in preparation for the FIA European Formula 3 Championship in 2013.
