Josh Buchan has claimed his second win of the season and became the first Australian driver to win the Macau Guia Race in its 63-year history after first defending against Santiago Urrutia and later Ma Qing Hua every lap until the finish.
Buchan started from pole well and led the way into T1, while Ma seemed to have a good start, but he was then passed by his teammate Urrutia on the way into the Mandarin bend and dropped to third. Ma then lost one more spot as Mikel Azcona slid up the inside at San Francisco.
Buchan and Urrutia then were involved in an epic battle for the lead, with the Australian successfully covering off the inside into Lisboa over the next five laps, while Urrutia tried his hardest to find a way past him. Things got dramatic on lap 7, when Urrutia tried for the undercut after Lisboa into San Francisco, but Buchan moved over to cover him and they made contact. Urrutia lost pace and this held up Azcona behind him, which allowed Ma through to take up the mantle of fighting Buchan.
Urrutia made his way into the pits with a puncture, while two laps later Azcona also suffered a puncture on the way towards Mandarin and slowed, which caused Esteban Guerrieri to back off in avoidance; Thed Björk and Ignacio Montenegro benefitted from the situation and went through for P3 and P4.
Buchan continued to defend for the final three laps against Ma, eventually crossing the line less than half a second ahead of the Chinese driver and securing an incredibly hard-fought victory on the streets of Macau. Fellow Macau rookie Ignacio Montenegro finished an impressive fourth and the best-placed of the Honda drivers, while Max Hart was the top CUPRA in seventh, having worked his way forward from 12th on the grid, with Buchan’s teammate Ryan MacMillan also going from 16th to ninth.
Newly-crowned champion Yann Ehrlacher had an awkward end to the season, hitting the barriers at Lisboa during the final lap after receiving a tap by Norbert Michelisz and finished just outside of the top ten.
Quotes from the podium finishers
Josh Buchan, 1st
“I didn't have a single moment to breathe from start to finish. Defending from Santi was relentless, and then as soon as he made his mistake, Ma was doing exactly the same. I’ve been struggling in Sector 1 all weekend. Strangely, some of the high-speed stuff between the walls, wasn’t an issue, but that first sector… it just didn’t click. So, I knew that if I got into the lead, that was where I would be most vulnerable, especially with these guys behind me. Once I was in front, I knew it would be very difficult for them to pass, because the car was good down the straight, but I also wasn’t going to let it go without a proper fight. They would have had to put me in the wall to take it from me, and honestly, if that’s how it was going to end, then so be it. Luckily it didn’t come to that, and the guys were very respectful. It was an excellent race from everyone, across the whole grid.”
Ma Qing Hua, 2nd
“I’m super happy to be back on the podium. It wasn’t an easy race. I had a really good start, but we don’t have the best top speed on the straight, so at Mandarin I had to sacrifice a bit because Josh was already inside. Then there was the incident in front of me with Santi. I managed to read it well and made the move through. I tried everything to catch Josh. I had the pace, especially because he was a bit slower in Sector 1, but in Sectors 3 and 4 there’s simply no proper overtaking point at Macau and the walls are just too close. I pushed as much as I could but there was no real chance to make a move. In the end, to finish P2 is a good result for everyone, and for me personally it’s very special to stand on the podium here at my home race.”
Thed Björk, 3rd
“First of all, big respect to Josh for winning the race here. Going through Mandarin flat every lap… I think he was scared, I was scared, we’re all scared! He did an amazing job, especially trying to defend from the guys behind on his first time here. And secondly, a big thank you to everyone working here at the Macau Guia Circuit. The marshals, the organisers, so many people are involved to make this place run. Every time we come here, I’m very impressed with the level of work and the passion. In the end, I’m super happy. Third in the race today and second in the championship overall. It’s been a fantastic season.”
Race 2
1. Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 10 laps
2. Ma Qing Hua (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL), 0.414
3. Thed Björk (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL), 2.405 ...
Championship points
1. Y. Ehrlacher, 484 pts; 2. T. Björk, 460; 3. E. Guerrieri, 385...
