Racecar customer Double R Racing rolls back the years at it's 10th participation at Macau, as Alexander Sims grabs two podiums after some superb driving on the street circuit
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Double R Racing celebrated a magnificent podium finish in the prestigious Suncity Group Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix on Sunday, 22nd November, thanks to a great drive from British ace Alexander Sims – a result which was set-up in the previous day’s Qualification Race where he stormed from 13th on the grid to third place.
Making a welcome, and richly deserved, return to the coveted Macau podium in its 10th anniversary year at the blue riband F3 event, the Woking team underlined its capability and front-running pace with a superb double trophy haul.
Sims’ team-mate Matt Solomon, making his first appearance in F3 machinery at Macau and only his second ever visit to the Guia street circuit, raced to 21st position in the Qualification Race – after an enforced pit visit early on – before taking an improved 18th place in the Grand Prix itself.
“What an incredible weekend, absolutely fantastic – Alexander did everything we could have asked and performed exactly how we knew he would” said elated team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, “It’s so satisfying to be back on the Macau podium and to do it in the team’s 10th anniversary year at the big race is the icing on the cake.
“Qualifying didn’t go how we wanted but the set-up was spot on for the two races. Alexander’s drive in the Qualification Race was the highlight performance, absolutely first class, and Matt did a really good job across the weekend. We were very pleased with how he performed against a top quality grid of drivers with much more F3 experience.”
Beginning the Qualification Race from 13th on the grid at the wheel of his Dallara-Mercedes, Sims faced a very tall order to make progress towards the front but his class shone through in Saturday’s contest, sparking delirious celebrations in the Double R garage.
Making a good start, Sims then avoided an accident at San Francisco which enabled him to leap into the top six prior to the emergence of the Safety Car. After just a single lap under caution, the action resumed on lap three and Sims quickly grabbed fifth position before then taking fourth on the very next tour.
Pulling well clear of the rest of the pack, the 27-year-old posted fastest lap pace mid-race and had a trouble-free run to the chequered flag in fourth position. Due to a penalty for race winner Antonio Giovinazzi, though, Sims was promoted into third and a superb rostrum finish - his first in Macau.
Solomon began Saturday’s outing from 27th on the grid and smartly threaded his way through to 19th before the appearance of the Safety Car, a gain of no fewer than eight places on lap one. With a couple of rivals hitting problems, at the re-start the Double R racer actually held 17th but damage sustained on the first lap back at racing speed resulted in a visit to the pits.
Good work by the Double R mechanics enabled the Hong Kong driver to rejoin the race fairly swiftly and he went on to climb back through the order well into 21st position before the chequered flag on lap 10.
Lining-up on the second row of the grid for the all-important Grand Prix on Sunday, Sims was unfortunately edged back to fourth on the opening lap before the race was red flagged due to a multi-car accident.
After a delay, the Grand Prix was re-started behind the Safety Car on lap three and when the action got back underway at full speed on lap four Sims maintained fourth place. Pressuring Charles Leclerc, Sims got alongside into Lisboa on lap five but had to tuck back in behind his rival. After Leclerc got ahead of Sam MacLeod on lap seven, the latter then became Sims’ podium target.
The Double R racer also had to be mindful of the advancing Giovinazzi but, on lap eight, a mistake from MacLeod enabled Sims to slice past at Moorish Hill to move into third position and during the final third of the contest he brilliantly kept Giovinazzi at bay to secure another memorable podium finish. Sims’ best lap of the race, 2m10.475 seconds, was mere hundredths shy of the lap record.
Solomon, meanwhile, ran in 18th position early in the re-started Grand Prix race and although edged back to the tail of the top 20 he fought back into 18th before the finish with an assured drive and closed to within just 0.3 seconds of Hongwei Cao at the flag to cap an impressive first F3 outing in the former Portuguese enclave.
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