Rain and red flags heavily affected the debut of Formula Regional cars in Macau on both Thursday and Friday as Ugo Ugochukwu took pole for the qualifying race with the fastest time across both qualifying sessions.

By Kaylene Lau

Day one of the inaugural FIA FR World Cup was marked by a series of red flags and poor weather, with sessions continuing despite the continued presence of Typhoon Signal No. 3, cause of Tropical Cyclone Toraji.

The practice session on Thursday, topped by MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe, marked many drivers’ first times around the circuit, and it was under unfavourable weather conditions.

Rain fell quickly in the middle of the first qualifying session, also topped by Goethe, as multiple interruptions prevented drivers from setting representative lap times.

Conditions were slightly better on Friday,  enabling drivers to set faster lap times compared to the day before. But light showers began in the middle of Friday’s practice session, causing a series of incidents that once again ended the session early. Noel León of Pinnacle Motorsport was fastest. 

An incident-filled second qualifying session saw the red flags brought out seven times as a number of contenders crashed. R-ace GP’s Ugochukwu took pole position on his second appearance at the venue, following his F3-spec debut last year.

Goethe leads the pack on day 1

The first of multiple incidents in the practice session occurred only10 minutes in when Evans GP’s Kai Daryanani stopped on track at Moorish, but the 19-year-old was able to get going again relatively quickly. 

Oliver Goethe, Freddie Slater, Ugo Ugochukwu, Dino Beganovic and Alex Dunne all took turns topping the timesheets before Rikuto Kobayashi hit the wall at Lisboa, bringing out the red flags. Dunne set a time of 2:43.708 before the red flags came out. 

Green flags were waved for the practice session with only 14 minutes left on the clock, and light rain had begun to fall on the circuit. 

Slater, making his Formula Regional debut, beat Dunne’s time with five minutes remaining in the session — setting a 2:43.285 under yellow-flag conditions as Pinnacle’s Mari Boya had gone up the escape road near Lisboa. 

However, Slater’s time was quickly beaten by Goethe, who topped the timesheets with a 2:41.270. Goethe’s lap time was two seconds faster than Slater’s and turned out to be the fastest time set for the session. 

A series of incidents in the last five minutes brought out the red flag once again.

James Wharton suffered damage to his front wing and tried to make his way back to the pits but was unable to continue and stopped near Melco, bringing out the yellow flags. Wharton’s teammate at ART, Kanato Le, briefly stopped in the middle of the road at a different part of the track but was able to continue. Saintéloc’s Alexander Abkhazava also went up the escape road near Lisboa but managed to make his way back onto the track. 

The red flag was brought out after TGM’s Sota Ogawa crashed into the barriers with only two minutes left on the clock, and the session was not resumed. 

Goethe, Slater and Dunne rounded out the top three for the first practice session.

The grid for the qualifying race on Saturday is set according to the fastest times set by the driver across the two qualifying sessions. With Thursday’s session heavily affected by multiple red flags, poor weather conditions and a damp track, Friday’s qualifying session would prove to be crucial for drivers to position themselves well for Saturday’s and Sunday’s races. 

A red flag was called five minutes into the first qualifying session, with PHM’s Ruiqi Liu crashing into the barrier at Lisboa. Liu’s car was retrieved quickly, but only five minutes after green flags were waved, Kiwi Motorsport’s Jett Bowling suffered substantial damage to his car with a crash into Police, destroying the rear and the front wing.

Goethe set the fastest time of the entire session early on. During the five minutes between Liu’s and Bowling’s crashes, Goethe set a time of 2:32.482 – a lap that would put him on provisional pole. Deteriorating weather conditions and more red flags afterwards meant that no one else knocked him off the top of the timesheets. 

R-ace GP’s Tuukka Taponen set the second-fastest lap time of the session not long after Goethe’s lap, with a time only 0.202s behind Goethe’s. MP’s Valerio Rinicella set a lap time of 2:35.234, rounding out the top three.

Goethe, Taponen and Rinicella were the only ones able to set a lap time before rain started falling on the track again. 

The session resumed at 15:55 local time, on a track much wetter than it was before the red flag. Goethe and Taponen opted to not go out again when the session resumed. MP’s Mattia Colnaghi sustained suspension damage to his car after tapping the wall but managed to get back to the pits.

Meanwhile, Daryanani went up the escape road at Lisboa – nearly making contact with ART’s Evan Giltaire in the process – and was unable to make his way back onto the track. This brought out the red flags as his car blocked the escape road and needed to be retrieved. 

With 20 minutes left to go in the session, many drivers had still yet to set a lap time because of the multiple interruptions. Drivers made their way back out onto the track again after Daryanani’s car was retrieved – but not for long. 

Similarly to his teammate, Evans GP’s Tiago Rodrigues found himself stuck at the escape road at Lisboa during his outlap, and the session was brought to a halt once again. 

The session resumed at 16:16 local time and was uninterrupted until the last few minutes of the session, allowing for the drivers who hadn’t set lap times yet to go out and put a time on the board. The likes of Le, Sato and Colnaghi – whose car had been fixed during the red flags – were able to set times before another red flag interrupted the session with five minutes left on the clock. 

TOM’S Formula driver Rikuto Kobayashi went off at the escape road near Lisboa, much as many other drivers had done in the two sessions on Thursday. With Kobayashi unable to get the car moving again, the session was stopped for the final time and did not resume.

No one was able to improve on Goethe’s, Taponen’s and Rinicella’s times after the weather conditions deteriorated, with Rashid Al Dhaheri the fastest of those who had set their lap times after the second red flag. 

León goes fastest in free practice 2

Conditions improved on Friday morning, enabling drivers to get more mileage in the car under slightly better conditions. But as the track was still damp from Thursday night’s rain, all drivers were on wet tyres for the entirety of the free practice session. 

The first 10 minutes of the session went uninterrupted, with Taponen, Ugochukwu, Noel León and Theophile Naël all briefly topping the timesheets. Before the first red flag of the session, León had set a time of 2:35.772, which would eventually be the fastest time of the session as rain would start to fall on the track moments later. 

A series of incidents would lead to the session being red-flagged 10 minutes in.

Taponen ended up on the escape road just before Police, but was able to get back onto the track. Daryanani‘s car stopped near Dona Maria, but he was able to get the car going once again after the red flags were called. 

The car of Cooper Webster got stuck at the exit of Melco, blocking Jett Bowling and Matteo De Palo from making the corner. However, all drivers were able to get around the corner without any damage. With nothing to clear up on the track, drivers were able to get back out onto the track soon after – but conditions were starting to get worse. 

Thursday and Friday’s sessions proved to be tough for Daryanani, bringing out the red flags for the second time this morning as he came to a halt at the Solitude Esses. Daryanani’s car was retrieved by the marshals, and drivers were able to get back out on the track with only a little less than 12 minutes left in the session. 

Colnaghi stopped near Moorish and Police, bringing out the yellow flags briefly but was able to get going again. Not long after, yellow flags were flown again when Boya went up the escape road at Lisboa but was able to rejoin. 

Goethe, who topped the timings on Thursday, could only manage to slot himself in 15th at the end of the session with a time of 2:39.758. 

On his first flying lap of the day, Dino Beganovic just managed to avoid the barriers near Police, going up the escape road – meaning that he failed to set a time before the end of the session. 

The session came to a halt when León made contact with the barriers at Solitude Esses. Debris from his car was stuck in the middle of the track, with the red flag flying and ending free practice 2. 

León, Naël and Le rounded out the top three for free practice 2.

Ugochukwu takes pole position in qualifying 2

The second qualifying session was incident-filled from start to finish, with the session being red-flagged seven times. This session would be the first on a dry track, which was crucial for the drivers to set a good lap time after yesterday’s rain-affected session. 

Eight minutes into the session, TGM’s Rintaro Sato crashed into the barriers and caused a multi-car pileup involving Dunne and Beganovic, bringing out the red flags. Sato’s car was sideways on the track, and Dunne tried his best to make his way past Sato’s car but suffered damage. Beganovic, who was on a flying lap and setting purple sectors, crashed straight into Sato’s car. Beganovic had just set the fastest time with a 2:22:199. 

After Sato, Dunne and Beganovic’s cars were recovered, Le’s car came to a halt at the same spot where the pileup was. Marshals tried to push his car to get it going again, but his car eventually needed to be retrieved, ending his session. 

A red flag at 16:07 local time halted the session for the second time, with Taponen crashing into the barriers near Police while on a flying lap. 

The session resumed soon after, allowing León, who went fastest in practice earlier today, to set a time of 2:20.190. Slater followed with a 2:20.286, slotting him into second. Goethe, who dominated on day 1, went quickest, topping the times with a time of 2:19.735. Ugochukwu slotted himself into second with a lap time 0.335s behind Goethe’s.

Nakamura went into the barriers after contact with Wharton at the R. Bend, bringing out the red flag. The session resumed after Nakamura’s car was recovered, but a fourth red flag was called almost immediately as the barriers at the pit entry required repairs. 

The green flag waved at 16:51 local time after repair work and cleanup of the barriers were completed. 

A collision involving Colnaghi and León led to the latter tapping the back of the MP car, and Ugochukwu, Deligny, Boya and Wharton had to take avoiding action. León headed back to the pits to change his damaged front wing as a result of the collision, and Colnaghi also headed back to the pits for repairs.

With just under 16 minutes to go, Ugochukwu sets a lap time 0.125s quicker than Goethe’s lap — just in time before the fifth red flag of the session is called. Kobayashi goes wide, unable to make the corner and crashes into the barriers at Fisherman’s Bend, bringing out the red flags. Kobayashi’s car was cleared quickly and the session was resumed. 

With eight minutes to go, none of the drivers were able to complete a flying lap as the session came to a halt once again. Wharton crashed into the barriers, with double yellow flags being waved. Giltaire crashed straight into Wharton’s car soon after, blocking the track and bringing out the red flags for the sixth time. 

When the session resumed, Goethe set a time of 2:19.121 and managed to put himself on provisional pole. His time was quickly beaten by Ugochukwu, who pipped Goethe for pole position by only 0.014s.

Jett Bowling’s crash into the barriers at R. Bend brought out the seventh and final red flag of the session with only three minutes left to go. 

Ugochukwu’s time slots him into pole position for Saturday’s qualifying race, followed by Goethe in second and León in third. 

Saturday’s qualifying race starts at 15:30 local time. 

Header photo credit: Macau Grand Prix Organising Committee