17 Nov 2008

Brendon Hartley set a new lap record in Macau Grand Prix

8:20 am on 17 November 2008

New Zealand's Brendon Hartley set a new lap record on the last lap to finish third at the Formula Three Macau Grand Prix in China after an extraordinary charge from the back of field.

The Palmerston North teenager avoided a series of crashes on the street circuit and was four seconds behind the winner Keisuke Kunimoto of Japan after 15 chaotic laps.

It was a great finish for Hartley after a seized gearbox in practice saw him qualify eleventh on the grid for Saturday's qualifying race.

And there was another setback in that race when a rival slammed him into the barrier at the first corner and he had to nurse his car back to the pits for repairs to the suspension before emerging to qualify 20th on the starting grid.