Macau GP: Browning grabs pole as shunt ends qualifying early

The Hitech driver had moved to the top of the timesheets with less than 10 minutes remaining as drivers unleashed their best efforts on new tyres.

It put him just 0.006 seconds ahead of Theodore Prema’s Gabriele Mini, but there remained plenty of time for his rivals to try to knock him off the front spot.

Mini had looked the man most likely to do that, but a first effort that looked on course to be good enough for pole position was wrecked with five minutes to go when the red flags were called out after Marcus Armstrong crashed at Dona Maria Bend and Ugo Ugochukwu ended up blocking the track at Moorish Hill.

A restart with five minutes to go left drivers with enough time for one final flying lap, and early sector times again suggested that Mini had the pace needed to go better and knock Browning off pole.

However, another red flag, triggered by Hitech’s Isack Hadjar crashing at Moorish Hill, meant that the session was suspended – leaving Browning’s pole position spot intact. 

Theodore Prema’s Dino Beganovic ended up third-fastest with a late effort, while Hadjar’s earlier fastest lap was good enough to secure him fourth.

The final red flag, which meant nobody could improve, also ensured that MP driver Armstrong was able to hold on to fifth, ahead of Alex Dunne (Hitech) and Oliver Goethe (Campos).

The first red flag of the session was brought out after four minutes when Nikola Tsolov crashed at Moorish Hill, badly damaging his ART Grand Prix car. 

Prior to his final crash which brought out the red flag, Hadjar also triggered a red flag with 15 minutes remaining after spinning on his out lap and ending up across the track at Moorish Hill. 

Browning’s pole position will secure him the front starting spot for Saturday’s 10-lap qualification race that will decide the grid for Sunday’s main grand prix. 

Macau F3 World Cup - second qualifying results: