{"id":4735,"date":"2016-11-15T12:17:55","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T11:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/b106543.web05.cust.bluerange.se\/?p=4735"},"modified":"2016-11-15T12:17:55","modified_gmt":"2016-11-15T11:17:55","slug":"rosenqvist-on-site-in-macau-as-push-for-record-breaking-win-begins-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/rosenqvist-on-site-in-macau-as-push-for-record-breaking-win-begins-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rosenqvist on site in Macau as push for record-breaking win begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"img_7424\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Two years in a row, Felix Rosenqvist has raced to victory in the Macau Grand Prix \u2013 the most prestigious and important event in all of junior single-seater motorsport. This week sees the Swede return to the Chinese gambling enclave for the 2016 edition of the famous Formula 3 street race; and he is back in pursuit of a record-breaking third triumph.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to be back here in Macau,\u201d says Felix Rosenqvist<\/strong>. \u201cHaving won the race two times, I can only really have one goal going into it this year. I\u2019m here to try and do it again, but also because Macau is simply such a fantastic event. It\u2019s the ultimate driving thrill and it\u2019s still the most challenging track I\u2019ve come across. I\u2019m really looking forward to the weekend.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The tradition-steeped Macau F3 race was staged for the first time back in 1983, when Ayrton Senna took victory on the treacherous Guia street circuit. Since then, a host of superstars in the making – David Coulthard, Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher, Mika H\u00e4kkinen, Sebastian Vettel and this year\u2019s F1 title protagonists Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to mention but a few \u2013 have engulfed in battle at the Macau Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

In the 33-year history of F3\u2019s blue-riband race, however, just two drivers have managed to win it twice: Edoardo Mortara (Italy, 2009-2010) and Felix Rosenqvist (2014-2015). Hence, a victory on Sunday would put Rosenqvist apart as the only three-time winner of the event \u2013 which gains increased status this year after acquiring official F3 World Cup status from motorsport governing body the FIA.<\/p>\n

Rosenqvist first partook in the Macau Grand Prix back in 2010, and has a second-place finish from 2012 to go with his two recent victories. He will, however, enter this year\u2019s edition without having contested a single Formula 3 race all season, his 2016 commitments instead revolving around a multifaceted programme featuring Indy Lights, DTM, GT and Formula E racing.<\/p>\n

Rosenqvist\u2019s hectic schedule sees him arrive in Macau straight from Morocco, where he claimed a maiden Formula E pole position and podium in only his second start in the category in last weekend\u2019s Marrakesh ePrix.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly have a lot of experience of Macau, but even for me there will be two new aspects to the race this year,\u201d he continues<\/strong>. \u201cOne of them is the new Pirelli tyres, which I think could change the face of the race quite a lot, and the second is the fact I\u2019ve not raced in F3 in the season leading up to it. How that affects things remains to be seen, but we did do some testing a couple of weeks ago and I felt at home in the car pretty much immediately.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Rosenqvist\u2019s Macau entry (#1) will be managed by the SJM Theodore Racing by Prema squad; the same outfit that carried him to victory one year ago, and to the 2015 FIA F3 European Championship title. Also part of the team\u2019s line-up is New Zealander Nick Cassidy (third in Macau in 2014) and 2016 FIA F3 European Championship runner-up Maximilian G\u00fcnther (Germany).<\/p>\n

In total, the grid will span 29 drivers from 14 countries, with Rosenqvist joined by two fellow ex-winners in the shape of 2011 victor Daniel Juncadella (Spain) and Portugal\u2019s Ant\u00f3nio F\u00e9lix da Costa (who beat Rosenqvist to the win in 2012).<\/p>\n

“The competition in Macau is always super strong, and this year will be no exception,\u201d Rosenqvist concludes<\/strong>. \u201cI think really the only one missing is (FIA F3 European champion) Lance Stroll, but other than that it\u2019s as competitive as it could get. All the other frontrunners from the FIA F3 European Championship are there, as are the top Japanese guys. Then of course, there\u2019s Dani (Juncadella) and Ant\u00f3nio (F\u00e9lix da Costa), two other previous winners and good friends of mine. We had so much fun in testing and I know they will want to beat me just as much as I want to beat them! I\u2019m well aware of the huge challenge ahead, but that\u2019s also the exact reason why I love Macau as much as I do.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The 2016 Macau Grand Prix gets underway with free practice and qualifying on Thursday and Friday, followed by the 10-lap Qualification Race on Saturday that will set up the grid for Sunday\u2019s do-or-die, 15-lap finale.<\/p>\n

Official live streaming will be available from the event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two years in a row, Felix Rosenqvist has raced to victory in the Macau Grand Prix \u2013 the most prestigious and important event in all of junior single-seater motorsport. This week sees the Swede return to the Chinese gambling enclave for the 2016 edition of the famous Formula 3 street race; and he is back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news3","category-press-releases","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"aioseo_notices":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4735"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4736,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4735\/revisions\/4736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}