Red Bull Junior Dan Ticktum took victory in the Macau Grand Prix for the second successive year after a crash-marred Formula 3 race.
McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Ticktum led from start to finish in a race that was red-flagged for a lengthy period following a shocking accident for Sophia Florsch and Sho Tsuboi.
After an early safety car, Florsch was running 16th when the race restarted.
She arrived at Lisboa with two wheels missing after contact along the straight, was launched over the kerb and then ramped over Japanese F3 champion Tsuboi, who was just turning into the corner in 14th position.
The German went over the barriers, through a safety fence and into a marshals’ and photographers’ area.
Florsch, Tsuboi, two photographers and one marshal were transported to hospital; all were conscious.
British driver Ticktum made a very early break at the restart to put a gap on Sacha Fenestraz, who had slipstreamed past Callum Ilott and front-row starter Joel Eriksson at the initial getaway.
Eriksson left his braking to the very last moment to squeeze down the inside of Fenestraz and take second place, before setting off after Motopark team-mate Ticktum.
The BMW DTM racer’s chase of Ticktum seemed forlorn, but he got another bite of the cherry when Enaam Ahmed crashed out of 11th place at Moorish, his third shunt of the weekend.
There were only four laps of racing remaining when the safety car returned to the pits, and within two tours Ticktum had extended his lead to 1.513 seconds.
He finally crossed the line 1.208s clear of Eriksson, while Carlin-run Renault Formula 1 junior Fenestraz completed the podium.
Jake Hughes took fourth for Hitech GP, and was closing in on Fenestraz over the late stages.
Ilott lost out in the slipstream not only at the start, but also at the red-flag restart, when F3 European champion Mick Schumacher passed him for fifth.
Ilott then got engaged in a cat-and-mouse battle with Ralf Aron, with the Estonian getting through to chase Prema Powerteam stablemate Schumacher home.
Motopark’s new Red Bull Junior Juri Vips, who had fallen to 10th on the opening lap, also got past Carlin F3 returnee Ilott to take seventh on the final lap at Lisboa.
Prema-run Ferrari juniors Marcus Armstrong and Robert Shwartzman completed the top 10.
The initial safety car was caused by two separate crashes at Lisboa on the first lap: Marino Sato shunted on the exit, while Alex Palou went into the barrier on the entry, and Charles Leong and Keyvan Andres got caught up in a chain-reaction collision behind the Spaniard.
(By Marcus Simmons-Autosport)
Result – 15 laps
1 Dan Ticktum Motopark Academy Dallara/Volkswagen 1h46m22.108s
2 Joel Eriksson Motopark Academy Dallara/Volkswagen 1.208s
3 Sacha Fenestraz Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen 2.505s
4 Jake Hughes Hitech GP Dallara/Mercedes 3.521s
5 Mick Schumacher SJM Theo. Racing by Prema Dallara/Mercedes 4.542s
6 Ralf Aron SJM Theodore Racing by Prema Dallara/Mercedes 6.406s
7 Callum Ilott Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen 8.340s
8 Marcus Armstrong SJM Theo. Racing by Prema Dallara/Mercedes 9.597s
9 Robert Shwartzman SJM Theo. Racing by Prema Dallara/Mercedes 11.840s
10 Ferdinand Habsburg Motopark Academy Dallara/Volkswagen 12.793s
