2023 Macau Formula 4 Race

The 2023 Macau Formula 4 Race, originally named as 2023 Macau Asia Formula 4, is a racing event part of the 2023 Macau Grand Prix ^{[lower-alpha 1]} held at the Guia Circuit. The event was run to Formula 4 regulations on 11 and 12 November, and was originally due to form part of the 2023 F4 Chinese Championship but this plan was cancelled. It was instead a non-championship round of the 2023 Formula 4 South East Asia Championship.

Background and entry list

Layout of the Guia Circuit

Negotiations for the Formula 4 (F4) junior single seater car category to be part of the 2023 Macau Grand Prix meeting took place between the Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee and the Shanghai-based motor racing championship promoter Top Speed in early 2023. ^{[1] [2]} There were plans to name the winner of the season-ending F4 Chinese Championship race the Macau Grand Prix victor if a higher single seater category did not form part of the Grand Prix meeting in 2023. ^[3] It was held as part of the revived 2023 Formula 4 South East Asia Championship instead of being part of the 2023 F4 Chinese Championship as had been the case in the previous three editions of the event, ^{[2] [3]} and was an invitational, non-championship round. ^{[4] [5]} The event took place on the 24-turn clockwise 6.120 km (3.803 mi) Guia Circuit in the streets of the Chinese special administrative region of Macau on 12 November following a day of practice and qualifying. ^{[3] [4] [6]} It was the fourth year in a row that Macau held a F4 race after the category was introduced to the event due to COVID-19 restrictions preventing the holding of the Formula Three round. ^{[7] [8]}

Drivers invited to the race had to be at least 15 years or older (with their date of their birth being binding) and were required to be the holder of a International C or ASN national licence. ^{[5] [9]} Entries to the race had to be filed between 21 August and 15 September and a maximum of 28 entries were allowed into the event. ^[9] The entry list of 23 drivers and 11 teams was published on 25 October. ^[10] Each driver competed in a Tatuus F4-T421 Gen 2 car that was powered by the updated Fiat Abarth F413T turbocharged engine and featured the Halo cockpit protection device. ^{[2] [5]} Two-time Macau Grand Prix winner Charles Leong were among the drivers who were entered into the race. ^[8] Martinius Stenshorne, the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship runner-up, returned to F4 racing with the Pinnacle Motorsport/B-MAX Racing team. ^[11] There were three female drivers in Bianca Bustamante, Miki Koyama and Vivian Siu who competed in the race. Budgetary constraints prevented Andy Chang, the 2022 Macau Grand Prix winner, from entering the event. ^[12]

Practice and qualifying

A single 45-minute practice session for drivers to test their cars and become acquainted with the Guia Circuit took place on the morning of 11 November. ^{[6] [13] [14]} Freddie Slater of the SJM Theodore Prema Racing team lapped fastest with a time of 2:30.922 that he set 17 minutes into the session. Stenshorne, Leong, Arvid Lindblad, Jack Beeton, Raphaël Narac, Rashid Al Dhaheri, Kevin Xiao, Ethan Ho and Enzo Yeh followed in positions two to ten. ^[13] Thomas Leung crashed into the barrier and caused the session to be stopped after seven minutes so his car could be recovered. Liu Kai Shun collided with the wall at the Melco hairpin and broke his front wing. He was hit from behind by Tiago Rodrigues and the resulting traffic jam of three cars forced a second stoppage before it was cleared. A crash by Lindblad at Lisboa corner saw Hadrien David and Yeh drive onto the run-off area to avoid Lindblad's stopped vehicle. Practice ended early with eight minutes remaining after Beeton had earlier struck the Fisherman's Bend corner wall. The bottom of the barriers sustained heavy damage and had to undergo lengthy repairs while Beeton's car had difficulty being removed from the barrier before it was put onto a flatbed truck. ^{[13] [15]}

The half an hour qualifying session that was held later that afternoon set the qualification race's starting order with each driver's fastest lap times. Drivers who failed to lap within 110 percent of the fastest entrant would not qualify for the event. ^{[6] [9]} The start of the session was delayed by a quarter of an hour because of a slippery track in the final sector caused by an support race incident. ^[16] Lindblad took pole position for the qualification race with a lap time of 2:24.293 that he recorded on his last lap. He was joined on the front row by Slater whose best lap was 0.549 seconds slower and he was followed by David in third position. Leong took fourth with a lap time he set late in qualifying while Al Dhaheri secured fifth around the same time period. Beeton was sixth, Narac claimed seventh, Rodrigues qualified eighth and Stenshorne took ninth. ^{[16] [17]} Ho completed the top ten qualifiers. Bustamente in 11th was the fastest driver not to qualify in the top ten places. Following her in the final places were Yeh, Liu Kai Shun, Koyama, Kai Daryanani, Xiao, Cheong, Chui Ka Kam, Ryuji "Dragon" Kumita, Marco Lau, Siu, Jaden Pariat and Leung. ^[16] Daryanani oversteered into the Lisboa corner wall and qualifying was stopped for five minutes after 12 minutes had passed. Stenshorne broke his front-right wheel in an accident in the track's final sector and stopping the session for six minutes. With nine minutes remaining, Narac broke his front wing against the Solitude Esses turn barrier and his car briefly went upwards as it embedded itself into the wall. Qualifying was stopped for 13 minutes because recovery vehicles had to return to their positions for future use, extending the recovery time of Narac's car. ^{[16] [17]}

Qualifying classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	23	Arvid Lindblad	SJM Theodore PREMA Racing	2:24.293	—
2	27	Freddie Slater	SJM Theodore PREMA Racing	2:24.842	+0.549
3	2	Hadrien David	R-ace GP	2:24.883	+0.590
4	11	Charles Leong	SJM Theodore PREMA Racing	2:25.239	+0.946
5	14	Rashid Al Dhaheri	PREMA Racing [lower-alpha 2]	2:25.983	+1.690
6	45	Jack Beeton	AGI Sport	2:26.573	+2.280
7	1	Raphaël Narac	R-ace GP	2:27.219	+2.926
8	7	Tiago Rodrigues	Asia Racing Team	2:27.530	+3.237
9	34	Martinius Stenshorne	PINNACLE Motorsport	2:27.738	+3.445
10	68	Ethan Ho	Team KRC	2:28.563	+4.270
11	19	Bianca Bustamante	BlackArts Racing	2:28.733	+4.440
12	77	Enzo Yeh	Asia Racing Team	2:29.319	+5.026
13	72	Liu Kai Shun	PINNACLE Motorsport	2:29.765	+5.472
14	8	Miki Koyama	Super License	2:30.150	+5.857
15	88	Kai Daryanani	PINNACLE Motorsport	2:30.184	+5.891
16	96	Kevin Xiao	Asia Racing Team	2:30.602	+6.309
17	4	Marcus Cheong	Asia Racing Team	2:33.814	+9.521
18	16	Chui Ka Kam	CHAMP Motorsport	2:38.325	+14.032
110% time: 2:38.722
19	30	"Dragon"	B-Max Racing Team	2:39.683	+15.390
20	53	Marco Lau	H-Star Racing	2:44.202	+19.909
21	28	Vivian Siu	CHAMP Motorsport	2:47.384	+23.091
22	5	Jaden Pariat	BlackArts Racing	No Time	+-:--.---
23	22	Thomas Leung	H-Star Racing	No Time	+-:--.---
Sources: [18]

Qualifying race

The qualifying race to set the main race's starting order began at 08:00 local time on 12 November and was scheduled to last eight laps. ^{[6] [9]}

Qualifying race classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1	23	Arvid Lindblad	SJM Theodore Prema Racing	7	25:39.046	1
2	27	Freddie Slater	SJM Theodore Prema Racing	7	+0.758	2
3	11	Charles Leong	SJM Theodore Prema Racing	7	+1.628	4
4	14	Rashid Al Dhaheri	Prema Racing	7	+2.663	5
5	45	Jack Beeton	AGI Sport	7	+3.405	6
6	68	Ethan Ho	Team KRC	7	+5.913	10
7	1	Raphaël Narac	R-ace GP	7	+53.246	7
8	7	Tiago Rodrigues	Asia Racing Team	7	+53.699	8
9	19	Bianca Bustamante	BlackArts Racing	7	+54.869	11
10	77	Enzo Yeh	Asia Racing Team	7	+55.712	12
11	8	Miki Koyama	Super License	7	+56.977	14
12	96	Kevin Xiao	Asia Racing Team	7	+57.537	16
13	16	Chui Ka Kam	CHAMP Motorsport	7	+59.950	18
14	4	Marcus Cheong	Asia Racing Team	7	+1:01.616	17
15	22	Thomas Leung	H-Star Racing	7	+1:05.809	22
16	30	"Dragon"	B-Max Racing Team	7	+1:09.367	19
17	28	Vivian Siu	CHAMP Motorsport	7	+1:35.309	21
18	53	Marco Lau	H-Star Racing	7	+1:58.554	20
NC	34	Martinius Stenshorne	PINNACLE Motorsport	7	+1:42.043	9
Ret	2	Hadrien David	R-ace GP	5	Accident	3
Ret	88	Kai Daryanani	PINNACLE Motorsport	2	Accident	15
Ret	29	Liu Kaishun	PINNACLE Motorsport	1	Accident	13
Fastest Lap: Arvid Lindblad, 2:40.400, 85.3 mph (137.3 km/h), on lap 6
Sources: [19]

Final race

The 12-lap final race began later on 12 November at 15:40 local time. ^{[6] [9]}

Final race classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1	23	Arvid Lindblad	SJM Theodore Prema Racing	12	37:28.517	1
2	11	Charles Leong	SJM Theodore Prema Racing	12	+0.274	3
3	14	Rashid Al Dhaheri	Prema Racing	12	+0.992	4
4	45	Jack Beeton	AGI Sport	12	+1.177	5
5	68	Ethan Ho	Team KRC	12	+2.666	6
6	7	Tiago Rodrigues	Asia Racing Team	12	+3.560	8
7	2	Hadrien David	R-ace GP	12	+3.807	20
8	77	Enzo Yeh	Asia Racing Team	12	+4.236	10
9	27	Freddie Slater	SJM Theodore Prema Racing	12	+4.527	2
10	88	Kai Daryanani	PINNACLE Motorsport	12	+5.812	21
11	16	Chui Ka Kam	CHAMP Motorsport	12	+6.571	13
12	4	Marcus Cheong	Asia Racing Team	12	+7.334	14
13	30	"Dragon"	B-Max Racing Team	12	+29.607	16
14	28	Vivian Siu	CHAMP Motorsport	12	+2:02.952	17
Ret	1	Raphaël Narac	R-ace GP	10	Accident	7
Ret	96	Kevin Xiao	Asia Racing Team	9	Accident	12
Ret	34	Martinius Stenshorne	PINNACLE Motorsport	8	Accident	19
Ret	72	Liu Kai Shun	PINNACLE Motorsport	7	Accident	22
Ret	22	Thomas Leung	H-Star Racing	7	Accident	15
Ret	53	Marco Lau	H-Star Racing	3	Accident	18
Ret	19	Bianca Bustamante	BlackArts Racing	0	Accident	9
Ret	8	Miki Koyama	Super License	0	Accident	11
Fastest Lap: Arvid Lindblad, 2:24.791, 94.5 mph (152.1 km/h), on lap 10
Sources: [20]

Notes

1. officially the 70th Macau Grand Prix (Portuguese: 70º Grande Prémio de Macau,Chinese :第70屆澳門格蘭披治大賽車)
2. Car #14 competed as PREMA Racing with an Italian license and cars #11, #23 and #27 competed as SJM Theodore PREMA Racing with a Hong Kong license.

References

1. Simmons, Marcus (9 March 2023). "F3 could headline Macau 'junior single-seater festival'". Autosport . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
2. Marques, Renato (30 August 2023). "F4 SEA to replace F4 Chinese Championship in this year's GP". Macau Daily Times . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
3. Wood, Ida (25 February 2023). "The 2023 Macau GP is being planned to take place over two weekends". Formula Scout. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
4. "Macau Grand Prix invitational highlight of revitalized F4 South East Asia Championship". Formula 4 South East Asia Championship. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
5. "Formula 4 Driver Guide 2023 – Macau GP Support Race" (PDF). Eurasia Motorsport. July 2023. pp. 2, 4–7, 9. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
6. "70th Macau Grand Prix – Official Programme" (PDF). Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee. November 2023. pp. 09, 15–16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
7. "F4's retention in GP programme gains support". Macau Business. MNA International. 12 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
8. Marques, Renato (10 November 2023). "Added excitement anticipated for this year's F4 race". Macau Daily Times . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
9. "70th Macau Grand Prix - 11th-12 November 2023 - Macau Formula 4 Race - Sporting Regulations" (PDF). Automobile General Association Macao-China. 12 October 2023. pp. 3, 5–6, 23, 32–33. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
10. Wood, Ida (25 October 2023). "Prema to go up against top Asian teams in F4 SEA's Macau races". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
11. Wood, Ida (7 November 2023). "FREC runner-up Martinius Stenshorne to enter Macau's F4 races". Formula Scout. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
12. "70º Grande Prémio | Corrida de Macau de Fórmula 4: A prata da casa" [70th Grand Prix | Macau Formula 4 Race: The silver of the house]. Hoje Macau (in Portuguese). 10 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
13. Wood, Ida (11 November 2023). "Slater fastest, Lindblad crashes in F4 SEA practice on streets of Macau". Formula Scout. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
14. Dias, Erico (12 November 2023). "Here are the highlights from day one of the 2023 Macau Grand Prix". Macao News. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
15. "Macau Grand Prix Gets Underway with Free Practice". Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
16. Wood, Ida (11 November 2023). "Red Bull junior Lindblad claims F4 pole in chaotic Macau qualifying". Formula Scout. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
17. "Lindblad scores pole for first Macau Formula 4 Race". Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
18. "Macau Formula 4 Race - Qualifying - Official Classification" (PDF). Macau Grand Prix. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
19. "Macau Formula 4 Race - Qualifying Race - Official Classification" (PDF). Macau Grand Prix. 12 November 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
20. "Macau Formula 4 Race - Final Race - Official Classification" (PDF). Macau Grand Prix. 12 November 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.