Lukę Browning will start the Macau Grand Prix qualifying race from pole after topping a crash-affected second qualifying session at the Guia circuit.
The Hitech driver timed his run to perfection in the 40-minute session, leaping to the top of the times with a 2m05.435s shortly before a pair of late red flags.
The seconds of those stoppages would see the session declared early, robbing Thursday qualifying pacesetter Gabriele Mini (Prema Racing) of the chance to better Browning’s time.
“To be honest, every session up to this point was a mess,” said Browning. “We had DRS not working in the first qualifying and we didn’t use the second set of tyres, we were still running on the same ones as [free practice].
“We put it together in Q2. You can’t attack this place, you’ve got to massage yourself into it. Looking back at the drivers who have had pole positions and wins around here, it’s an absolute bucket list dream for me.”
Dino Beganovic made it a Prema two-three behind Browning, while another Hitech driver, Isaac Hadjar, will start from the outside of the second row tomorrow afternoon.
Kiwi Marcus Armstrong was fifth fastest while Christian Mansell was the best-placed Aussie down in 23rd, two spots ahead of Tommy Smith.
In the Macau GT Cup, Raffaele Marciello took a sensational pole position for the Team Landgraf Mercedes squad, pipping Audi’s Edoardo Mortara on his final run.
For the Macau Guia Race, the final round of the TCR World Tour, Norbert Michelisz scored pole – and 10 valuable points – in his Hyundai while title rivals Yann Ehrlacher (Lynk & Co) and Robb Huff (Audi) were third and fifth respectively.
Ben Bargwanna qualified 11th in his Peugeot.
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