Macu GP: Edoardo Mortara Thursday report

DEJa VU AS MORTARA QUICKEST IN MACAU

MACAU (CHN) 18 NOVEMBER 2010: Formula 3 Euro Series champion Edoardo Mortara has made a strong start to his weekend at the 57th Macau Grand Prix by topping the charts in First Qualifying.

A crash by Daniel Juncadella summoned the red flag 11 minutes into the session. Once resumed, Edo set the fastest time 0.113 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Tomorrow afternoon will see Second Qualifying, and the grid for Saturday's Qualifying Race will be based on the aggregate of these two times.

Mortara, who won the race last year, is aiming to become the first driver to win this prestigious intercontinental F3 cup twice. As in 2009, and in this year's Euro Series, the 23-year-old Italian is driving for Signature-Volkswagen.

Qualifying 1 pos: 1 / Fastest lap: 2:13.068 / Free practice 1 pos: 2 / Fastest lap: 2:14.588

EDOARDO MORTARA: "The first thing to say is that there's still a long way to go. It's the perfect way to start, but with a second qualifying tomorrow and then a qualifying race on Saturday it is a long weekend with many opportunities to drop the ball.

"As I say, though, a good start and I'm very confident with the car. It's fantastic to be back in Macau - I absolutely love it here. This is the best track in the world, in my opinion, and I can't wait for second practice tomorrow so I can do some more laps. I think we're building up towards an epic race. Valtteri Bottas showed today that he has strong pace, and so I think we're going to have a great competition. He's a very good driver, very fair, and I'm looking forward to a fun fight with him in each session."

BIOGRAPHY: Edoardo Mortara was born on 12 January 1987 in Geneva and holds dual Swiss, French and Italian nationality. He first drove a go-kart aged ten and progressed up the ranks of Italian karting, finishing sixth in the World Championship with Tony Kart in 2005. Single-seaters then beckoned, first with Formula Renault for a season, then up to Formula 3 in 2007. He was Rookie Of The Year, and in 2008 Vice-Champion to Nico Hulkenberg. Edo came second on his Macau Grand Prix debut. In 2009 he moved to GP2 with Arden International, winning in Barcelona. Subsequent results, however, were disappointing and at the end of the year Edo returned to Macau with his old team, Signature, to take victory. In 2010 Edo and Signature competed in the F3 Euro Series once again. The Italian dominated the championship with seven wins and 101 points.

-source: e-mortara