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Manning dominates Macau GP

Briton Darren Manning dominated both rounds of the Macau Formula Three Grand Prix on Sunday to claim a fantastic victory. The TOM'S driver benefitted from the first race behind stopped following a multi-car collision after he had dropped to third place on the road

At the restart, he made no mistake to get a clean start before steadily pulling clear from his nearest challengers who were battling behind him. It was a virtually identical performance in the second heat when, after losing out to local hero Andre Couto in the run to the first corner, he was back in front by Lisboa. From that moment, there was no looking back.

'I am very happy and very excited,' he said afterwards. 'I was confident when I came here that I had everything I needed to be successful and I have done the job. This is the most important race victory of my career.'

Behind Manning, there was a series of exciting battles taking place. In the first heat, Couto and rookie Briton Jenson Button fought it out for second place. Button was Manning's nearest challenger on the opening lap, while on lap two Couto dived inside on the entry to San Francisco and then managed to keep hold of the position until the chequered flag.

In the second heat, their battle was equally as fraught but the outcome was not as satisfactory for either driver. At the start of lap two, Button tried to grab second from Couto on the entry to Lisboa but his rival turned in on him and the pair collided. Couto was out on the spot, but Button was able to continue and eventually finished second.

'This is a fantastic result for me,' said Button, who drives for Promatecme. 'I've been looking forward to this race for such a long time and to finish on the podium on my first visit is like a dream.'

Japanese driver Daisuke Itoh became his nation's first Macau podium finisher when he benefitted from a high-attrition rate to claim third place. He stayed out of trouble to finish 14 seconds ahead of compatriot Tsugio Matsuda, with Belgian Yves Olivier fifth overall.

Several of the pre-race favourites were involved in accidents during an incident-filled afternoon. Austrian Robert Lechner caused the opening lap crash of the first heat when he ran wide on the exit of San Francisco and hit the barriers. More than 15 cars collided behind him as they tried to avoid the carnage, including German champion Christijan Albers and British champion Marc Hynes

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