Laurens Vanthoor flips at Macau GP, wins anyway

Published Dec. 9, 2016 1:27 p.m. ET

Samuel Reiman

The 2016 running of the Macau Grand Prix took place on Sunday at the 3.8-mile long Guia Circuit in Macau, China.

The two main events of the day were the Formula 3 World Cup and the FIA GT World Cup races, which were won by Antonio Felix da Costa and Laurens Vanthoor respectively.

Vanthoor’s win was particularly unique in that he flipped during the race, yet still took home the win. Vanthoor led the field away for the first of 18 scheduled laps at the street circuit. However, the race soon turned into a timed event after a red flag period.

Having cut off another driver at the start, Earl Bamber was informed that he had received a five-second penalty. Knowing he had to act fast when the race restarted, Bamber took the lead from Vanthoor, right before disaster struck.

Vanthoor clipped the inside curb, kicking him out into the outside wall, which knocked the rear wing off his Audi, causing it to flip. This incident brought out the red flags which ultimately ended up finishing the race. The results were made official at the completion of Lap 4, at which point Vanthoor was still leading. Bamber’s five-second penalty resulted in him finishing fourth.

“I wish I could have been more happy, It’s a strange way to win such a big race,” admitted Vanthoor. “I’ve wanted to win this one really bad and I’ve done it but it’s not a good way. I would have preferred to have crossed the finish line and won it. At least we’ve shown all weekend that we were strong and that we were in the fight for the win, at least that shows that we kind of deserved it."

Vanthoor admitted he was surprised to take home the win. “I thought the race was over, when I was there and came back from my car, I didn’t think I would’ve won the race for sure. I’m completely fine, Audi builds very strong cars. I have some nasty images of my head right now which are a bit scary but I was happy to see my wife and the rest of my family when I came back. In the end, we know we’re doing a dangerous job but safety’s very high at the moment, but it’s also a bit scary which is why we love doing it.”

Likewise, a bit of luck was also on Antonio Felix da Costa’s side in the Formula 3 race. While the Portuguese driver had the pole and led the field away, he soon found himself riding in second place behind Carlin teammate Sergio Sette Camara. However, a mid-race safety car allowed the field to get bunched back up and, following the restart, da Costa now found himself back within striking distance of Camara.

Da Costa capitalized on the opportunity and took the lead for his second Macau GP win.

“I had a point to prove and I’ve done it,” said da Costa. “When I next come back to Macau, it will be in the GT cars.”