FIA FR World Cup: Naël wins FR thriller

THÈOPHILE Naël (KCMG Enya Pinnacle Motorsport) has added his name to the illustrious list of winners of Macau’s “Queen” of the races.

Starting from third on the grid, Naël lost one place in the early stages but never lost hope.

Keeping a steady race pace and observing the multiple battles developing ahead of him, he waited patiently for his opportunity to come and, when it did, he timed it perfectly to launch a double attack on Enzo Deligny (R-ACE GP) and his teammate Mari Boya into Lisboa Bend.

The “bravery” paid off, and Naël took home the trophy and the title of FR World Cup champion, following in the footsteps of Ugo Ugochukwu, the first winner of the FR World Cup.

After the race, Naël, the first Frenchman to win the Macau Grand Prix main race in over 21 years, admitted that the move was bold and scary, but he was happy to have made it count.

“It feels really, really good. I was just patient; the pace was there the whole weekend. Both of my starts yesterday and today didn’t go as planned, so I just managed to stay calm. I knew that we are racing in Macau [and] everything can happen until the checkered flag” he said.

“It was a rollercoaster the whole weekend, and now the emotions are coming. I did a good restart, to be honest, then I just put it in sixth gear, went flat out, I looked ahead and I don’t know why they slowed down a bit too much, so I went to the left and then I closed the door, I braked late, kept an eye on my mirrors as well with Mari, and it worked.”

The trio running three abreast towards Lisboa on lap 14 was the most highlighted move of a race that had many attractive points, particularly in the battles between Qualification Race winner Freddie Slater (SJM Theodore Prema Racing) and Boya.

Such battles ended in tears for Slater, who was carrying too much speed into the R Bend and crashed the rear end of his car into the barriers, putting an end to his chances of confirming his bid as the main favorite to win this year.

Leader on two occasions, Boya had to settle for second as the race ended behind the safety car, not giving him any chance to attack Naël. Deligny took third.
Taito Kato (ART Grand Prix) ended up the best Macau rookie in fifth, while Kato’s teammate, Evan Giltaire, placed sixth.

At the press conference after the race, despite the good result, Boya felt that the win could and should have been his to take.

“Freddie was incredibly fast today. We knew from the weekend that he was strong, and I knew he had four new tires, so I planned to stay with him on the first lap and try to put pressure on him to make a mistake. He was taking many risks, but he was driving really, really well, and I felt he had a lot of confidence today. I saw in the first restart that the slipstream was super powerful. I felt I did a really good job in my first one, and he overtook me super easily in the middle of the run from T2 to T3. Once I couldn’t stay with him, I tried to save the tires, prepare for my restart, and seize my opportunity. Then he made a mistake in the last corner. I thought [the race] was for me because I knew I had a gap. But yeah, again, safety car, one-lap race, ciao… I tried to do whatever I could in the last two corners, but it’s too powerful**—the slipstream. Théo [Naël] did an amazing job, congratulations to him, for sure to the team, we had an amazing week together.”

Boya remarked, “Maybe today I’m not enjoying it that much, but tomorrow, when I look back at the past, I will be really happy and proud about this week. This is an amazing track; I’m a bit sad now, but as a driver it’s the best experience you can have, and yeah, it’s unbelievable.”

On the other hand, third-place finisher Deligny said he was happy to take the podium on a day that he had several struggles and was not the quickest on track.

“I just had a really good start from P6 up to P3 immediately, and then I struggled for pace a bit on the first laps, and Théo [Naël] behind was really quick, so I just kept my position, defended the inside as it’s quite hard to overtake on the outside, and then a safety car,” he said.

“In the end, it’s a podium, it’s P3. I don’t think we were the quickest today, so I’m still happy. I felt like I did a good restart, but I made sure not to be too close heading into Mandarin [Bend] so I wouldn’t have to brake too early. I tried to manage the gap perfectly, but for some reason [Boya] decided to slow down in the middle of the corner, which meant I had to brake as well, which gave Théo [Naël] the mega run from P3,” Deligny added.

On the race, FIA Single-Seater Committee president Emanuele Pirro commented, “The 72nd Macau Grand Prix produced the best possible show you could imagine. Formula Regional proved absolutely to be the right car for this circuit. We had a field of drivers with a very high level of experience, which, for me and the FIA, was very, very important because this is a driver’s circuit. The show was second to none, a real race that can be remembered in history. I’m really proud of what the drivers did, and those who came to watch the race can go home with a big smile.”