Josh Buchan set to start the Race 2 from pole
“That was the plan all along! In Q1 I did not a very good lap, and I had more in me. I was trying hard and the time was not there, so I tried less and then the time was there. But then I made a mistake, so I haven’t been able to put a whole lap together this weekend which is just my inexperience at Macau. I had to use all my new tyres to get to Q2, and then for Q2 I only had one set. I just didn’t feel I had the car under me in Q2 to do a good lap, made a mistake, caught some cars. I think if I’d set my ultimate lap I could have been P5 or P6, but as the session worked out, I got shuffled down to P10 which puts me on pole on Sunday, so I’ve got nothing to complain about.”
Pepe Oriola misses the top 12 on his world return
“I think my mistake was to save all my new tyres for qualifying, so I was missing a bit of the new tyre feeling before the session. I was improving lap-by-lap, but then I was caught by the red flag on a lap which would have got me in the top 12. Then on my last lap I caught a slower car and I lost a few tenths there, so I was trying to push to recover and then I touched the wall.”
Ma Qing Hua targeting Race 2 victory with strategic front row
“Obviously to get King of Macau in Race 2 is the main target, but it was very difficult to play smart in Q2. In Q1 we just had to set a lap to go through and that’s it, but in Q2 we had to keep an eye on the whole situation, and it looked like five or six drivers were trying to achieve this today. It was difficult, as the gap from P10 to P11 was also very tight. I think it’s not going to be easy, as the Hyundai cars are fast on the straight line, but we’re going to fight for sure. This is the last weekend of the season, so we have nothing to lose. We don’t need the car anymore… we just need to put ‘something’ in the container…”
Traffic costs Aurélien Comte the chance to break through to Q2
“It was a real shame as my last lap was very good. I took a lot of risks to get into Q2, but I had traffic in the last corner, and I lost about three-tenths which would have meant we would have been P8. It’s also very difficult running with 40kg and it’s only my second time here, so it’s not easy. I’m happy with my last lap, it’s just a shame I took a lot of risk for nothing. My weekend is pretty much over now, as it’s so difficult to overtake here.”
Picture: WSC/Jun Qian Motorsport
