The 2024 Macau Grand Prix qualifying session delivered a rollercoaster of emotions, culminating in a stunning pole position for Ugo Ugochukwu of R-ace GP. The young driver navigated a session riddled with red flags and incident-packed restarts to claim the top spot by a mere 0.014 seconds.
The action unfolded as pacesetter Dino Beganovic saw his initial dominance shattered when a crash by TGM Grand Prix’s Rintaro Sato collected both Prema Racing cars, relegating Beganovic to a disappointing 15th on the grid.
Despite the chaos, Ugochukwu remained focused. Speaking after the session, he admitted the pressure was immense, saying, “That was by far the most intense quali session I’ve ever had.”
“Initially as you said it was the first running in the dry, so it was really hard to know where the limit was.”
“We were just pushing it more and more every lap and to get it at the end I’m super happy, especially on such a special circuit, just having to get closer and closer to the limit, but of course there’s no room for a mistake, and that’s what makes it so special.”
“I’m really happy to be on pole.”
2:19.601 for Ugo Ugochukwu setting the provisional fastest lap of the second qualifying session in Macau 🔥🔥🔥
— FIA (@fia) November 15, 2024
13min on the clock and the drivers are still on track. Make sure to follow the action live on the FIA YouTube channel. #FIA #MacauGP #FIAFRWorldCup pic.twitter.com/Qvvc0SsKiS
The multiple red flags added another layer of complexity, forcing drivers to constantly recalibrate and push for a fast lap amidst the uncertainty. Ugochukwu acknowledged the challenge and said, “Obviously, every lap I think was going to be at the beginning.”
“Everything from the beginning. Just to make sure I had enough lap and I had a lap up there. Obviously, the red flags and the yellow flags were also really tricky to deal with. I mean, they were going to stop on the track at a certain point, and you had to avoid them.”
“It was really about staying on, making no mistakes. The track evolution was really big. So, yeah, grip was getting better and better every lap. And I knew on my start that we were going to get a set. And it would be important to push even more and try to make even better laps.”
