page_title: 2008 Macau Grand Prix
section_title: Main race
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 Macau Grand Prix / Main race
caption_attribution_description: English: Keisuke Kunimoto driving his TOM's Toyota F3 car at the Macau Grand Prix in 2008.
context_page_description: The 2008 Macau Grand Prix was a motor race for Formula Three cars that was held on the streets of Macau on 16 November 2008. Unlike other races, such as the Masters of Formula 3, the 2008 Macau Grand Prix was not a part of any Formula Three championship, but was open to entries from all Formula Three championships. The race itself was made up of two races: a ten-lap qualifying race that decided the starting grid for the fifteen-lap main race. The 2008 race was the 55th running of the Macau Grand Prix and the 26th for Formula Three cars.
  The Grand Prix was won by TOM'S driver Keisuke Kunimoto on his maiden appearance in Macau, having finished second in the previous day's Qualification Race that was won by Signature-Plus driver Edoardo Mortara. Kunimoto led from the start of the race and held it throughout to become the first Japanese driver to win in Macau since Takuma Sato won the 2001 race and it was the second consecutive victory for TOM'S in the Grand Prix. Second place went to Mortara, while the podium was completed by Carlin driver Brendon Hartley.
context_section_description: The race began on 16 November at 15:30 local time. The weather at the start was dry and sunny with an air temperature of 26 °C (79 °F) and a track temperature at 33 °C (91 °F). When the Grand Prix started, Kunimoto accelerated faster than Mortara off the line and was ahead of him heading towards Lisboa corner. Turvey stalled and created confusion as drivers swerved to avoid hitting his car. Vanthoor yielded six places as his clutch slipped but avoided stalling his engine. Streit defended against Bird into Mandarin Bend and they collided. Streit's car went across Bird's and drifted into the right-band barriers. He heavily damaged his car entering the corner before rebounding off the wall and veering left. Soon after, Ericsson went off the track entering Lisboa corner and several cars piled up behind him or had to negotiate their way past his stricken vehicle. The safety car was immediately deployed to control the race by picking up Kunimoto. The wreckage was cleared in two laps and Kunimoto held onto the lead at the restart and was followed by Mortara. Saga became the race's fourth retirement when he hit the wall at Lisboa corner. Just as Mortara locked his brakes on the bumpy track, Campos-Hull slipstreamed onto the back of Alguersuari heading towards Lisboa turn and overtook him for third position.
  Mortara's brake locking dropped him to fourth behind Campos-Hull and Alguersuari. Meanwhile, Kunimoto started to pull away from the rest of the field. Alguersuari got back past Campos-Hull for second on the fifth lap and Mortara overtook the latter for third on the next lap. As he began to reduce the time deficit to Kunimoto, Alguersuari's chances of winning were diminished when he was deemed to have jumped the start and was told he would incur a drive-through penalty. Alguersuari took his penalty at the end of lap five and Mortara began reducing Kunimoto's lead of 2½ seconds. As the race appeared to settle into calmness, Matsushita went into the wall after leaving the Mandarin Bend and temporarily blocked the track. Winslow drifted off the circuit at Police turn and hit the wall. Lancaster relinquished sixth place to Hartley while Mäki was now in the top ten. The safety car was called to neutralise the race on lap eight when Merhi spun at Reservoir Bend and heavily damaged his car. The incident caught the recovering Van Dam off guard who clipped debris and crashed. Kunimoto's lead had now evaporated and he was followed by Mortara, Campos-Hull, Cozzolino and Hartley.
  The race restarted on the tenth lap and Kunimoto held the lead. Mortara could not hang on to Kunimoto because of the former's higher straightline speed. In his effort to remain with Kunimoto, Mortara ran wide at Matsuya corner and bent his right-front suspension from contact with the wall, and Campos-Hull challenged him. Further back, Mäki was fending off Van Der Zande as the latter tried to pass him for sixth. Shabban was another retiree when he went off the circuit and into the barriers at Lisboa corner. Turvey recovered to move into the top ten while his teammate Hartley remained in fifth so he could observe any mistakes from Mortara, Campos-Hull and Cozzolino. Although Coletti drifted off the track and returned, he later hit the barriers at Hospital corner and was the race's final retirement. On the 13th lap, Cozzolino tried to overtake Campos-Hull but struck the rear of the latter's car braking for Lisboa corner and dropped out of the top ten. The crash promoted Hartley into third. Hartley and Turvey traded the fastest lap until Hartley claimed it on the final lap by completing a circuit in 2 minutes, 12.565 seconds.
  Turvey passed Grubmüller to claim seventh on the final lap. On his maiden appearance in Macau, it was Kunimoto's victory, achieving the first win for a Japanese driver in Macau since Takuma Sato won the 2001 race, and it was the second consecutive Macau Grand Prix victory for TOM'S. Mortara finished 1.710 seconds later in second and Hartley moved up 17 places from his starting position to complete the podium in third. Off the podium, Mäki finish
caption: Keisuke Kunimoto (pictured during the race) took the first win for a Japanese driver in Macau since Takuma Sato seven years previously.
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