Macau GP: Carlo van Dam qualifying report

2008 Japanese F3 champion fastest in qualifying for Grand Prix

Carlo van Dam takes pole position at Macau

Macau - Dutchman Carlo van Dam stormed to pole position today in the last lap of qualifying for this weekend's Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix. At the very end of a session that was halted by accidents several times, Carlo set the fastest lap of the 29 drivers competing in the 2008 edition of the world's most prestigious Formula 3 race.

"I am happy of course to be fastest and that I got pole position, but now we concentrate on tomorrow's race and Sunday's final", Carlo says. "Yesterday we took it fairly easy and things went well already, but obviously this track normally gets quicker on the second day. However, after a GT-race that was staged here earlier today, there was quite some oil on the circuit. As always in Macau, things were a bit chaotic today due to crashes and red flags flying around. On top of that I had a bit of understeer in the first few laps and then I hit the wall quite hard, so the steering was a bit bent for the rest of the session. Anyway, I was second fastest by then and I pushed hard in the last lap and that one got me pole position. Naturally, starting at the front is good, especially here, but the field is very competitive and the top ten seems to be very close in terms of lap time and on this track anything can happen really. For now, we aim to finish well tomorrow and be well prepared for the final on Sunday."

-credit: carlovandam.nl