Volkswagen driver Edoardo Mortara (Italy) won the Macau Grand Prix for the second consecutive time, which makes him the most successful Formula 3 driver in the history of the prestigious invitation race.

His team-mate Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) as the runner-up perfected the Volkswagen one-two victory for the Signature team, Marco Wittmann (Germany) finished the 15-lap race in fourth place as the best rookie behind Valtteri Bottas (Finland/Dallara-Mercedes). In the competition of the world’s best junior drivers Volkswagen with a track record of seven wins now equals Toyota as the most successful engine supplier.

After clinching the pole position in qualifying and victory in the qualification race Edoardo Mortara added a commanding victory in the most important race of the season to his tally. The 24-year-old Italian defended his lead after the start before an accident caused the safety car to be deployed. After the race was re-started Daniel Abt (Germany) took the lead but retired shortly afterwards due to an accident in the old town of Macau. The rookie, aged merely 17, had shown excellent performances in qualifying and the qualification race but had to watch the further course of the race from a trackside location. Edoardo Mortara used the safety car period to pass Vanthoor in a slipstream overtaking manoeuvre. The current Formula 3 Euro Series Champion took the lead in the process, continuously increased the distance to his rivals and saw the chequered flag in first place.

With eight cars in the top ten the five Volkswagen customer teams, Carlin, Hitech Racing, Motopark Academy, Performance Racing and Signature, achieved a convincing close of the season at the "FIA Intercontinental Cup”, the unofficial Formula 3 World Championship.

Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director:
"We can be proud of this historic success at the most renowned and most difficult of all Formula 3 races. On the surface, this may look like an easy feat but it actually involves a lot of hard work for which I would like to thank all who had a part in it. The Signature squad has shown an extremely strong performance this year. Edoardo Mortara proved his class on this track, which truly tests the drivers’ skills, yet again. The 54th win in the 68th Formula 3 race marks the conclusion of an extremely successful 2010 season that has ended for Volkswagen exactly as desired.”

#1 – Edoardo Mortara (Italy) – Volkswagen Dallara F308 – Team Signature
Qualifying: 1st place – qualification race: 1st place 1 – Grand Prix: 1st place
"Being the first driver to have won the Macau Grand Prix twice in a row is a tremendous feeling and a great honour. But it wasn’t an easy feat for me as I had strong rivals again this year. Laurens Vanthoor and Daniel Abt both required me to give everything. When I was finally running in front, I gave 120 per cent to outpace my rivals and to bring home victory.”

#2 – Marco Wittmann (Germany) – Volkswagen Dallara F308 – Team Signature
Qualifying: 5th place – qualification race: 5th place – Grand Prix: 4th place
"On the one hand I’m happy about fourth place, which is arguably not a bad Macau result for a rookie. This event is really something special for a racer. On the other hand I’m not totally pleased because today I was lacking some speed in comparison with the top three. I hope that the data analysis will show why this was the case.”

#3 – Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) – Volkswagen Dallara F308 – Team Signature
Qualifying: 3rd place – qualification race: 2nd place – Grand Prix: 2nd place
"Obviously, I’m very happy with second place, this is a respectable result. Of course I wanted to win but I’ve got to admit that my team colleague Edoardo Mortara was the better driver today and deserves having made his mark in the history books. When the race was re-started I didn’t do a perfect job of taking the turn onto the straight and so it was clear that Edo would pass me. After that, I wasn’t able to follow him.”

#4 – Daniel Abt (Kempten) – Volkswagen Dallara F308 – Team Signature
Qualifying: 4th place – qualification race: 3rd place – Grand Prix: retired
"Of course I’m disappointed about retiring today, but I’ll probably be able to smile again soon. By taking third place in Saturday’s race I showed that I’ve got the necessary speed to be running at the front of the field, although the team, the car and the track were new to me. This gives me the necessary confidence for next year. As far as the accident is concerned, I can say that my car, surprisingly, heavily understeered in a fast but not particularly difficult left-hand turn. I then had contact with the guard rail on the right and crashed into the one on the left.”