F3 Macau GP
F3 rookie Dunne: ‘Nobody will remember’ speed before Macau crash
F3 debutant Alex Dunne believes that his strong showing in the Macau Grand Prix weekend will be quickly forgotten after he crashed on the opening lap in the final race.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Nov 20, 2023, 3:20 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
GB3 runner-up Dunne was the star of Saturday’s opening race, belying his lack of experience in F3 machinery by fighting his way up from sixth on the grid to an eventual second behind Hitech team-mate Luke Browning.
That put Dunne alongside Browning on the front row of the grid for Sunday’s main event, but a poor launch saw the Irishman slip behind Gabriele Mini as the field rounded Mandarin.
Dunne was tucked into Mini’s slipstream for the run to Lisboa before he ducked to the outside and appeared to misjudge his braking before ploughing into the wall.
“I don’t really know what happened,” Dunne told Motorsport.com. “Gabriele defended the inside, I had to go into the outside, and then he braked early and I had to move to avoid him.
“It felt like I braked relatively early, I didn’t even lock up a wheel, but for whatever reason I couldn’t get the car stopped. It must have been something I did wrong, but I don’t know what exactly.
“The weekend went really well up to that point, but if I think about how I’m feeling now, it doesn’t really matter. Nobody remembers the first race, it’s the main race that counts.”
While most of the Macau field were new to the streets of the Far Eastern city, Dunne’s performance stood out owing to his lack of experience in F3 machinery.
Photo by: Macau GP
Podium: Race winner Luke Browning, Hitech Pulse-Eight, second place Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, third place Gabriele Minì, SJM Theodore Prema Racing
The 18-year-old aspires to race full-time in FIA F3 next season and hopes his Macau showing can help him assemble the necessary budget.
“I only did one day in the car before this weekend, and I’d never driven on a street track before, so, performance-wise the weekend has been pretty good,” said Dunne.
“As for the future, I don’t know. Hopefully, some people were happy, and hopefully, it can help me out a bit. It would be nice [to race in FIA F3], but it’s all about the budget and what support we can get, so I don’t know yet.
“Every weekend I try and show what I am capable of, and this weekend I got to do that, so hopefully that will help a little bit for next year.”
Read Also:
F3Studying Macau GP start history helped Browning deliver winning tactic
F3Aron thought he was on fire in scary Macau F3 crash
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Studying Macau GP start history helped Browning deliver winning tactic
Next article Three FIA F3 race winners set to tackle the Macau GP
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jamie Klein
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
Latest news
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
34 min
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 50 min
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
Daniel Suarez will return to Spire Motorsports for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
55 min
Daniel Suarez will return to Spire Motorsports for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe