Felix Rosenqvist escapes five-car pile-up to seal Macau Grand Prix pole position
Swedish defending champion aims to join an elite club of back-to-back Guia circuit winners
It seems that even when things start to go wrong they always turn out right for Felix Rosenqvist as the Swede was handed pole position for Sunday's 62nd Macau Grand Prix.
Last year's winner had escaped a five-car pile up just after the start of Saturday's qualifying and then watched Antonio Giovinazzi scream past him once the debris had been cleared.
READ: Felix Rosenqvist plots his Macau defence
But blame for the incident - which forced 2011 winner Daniel Juncadella into the wall just past the San Francisco Bend - was laid at the Italian's feet and he was later penalised 20 seconds, dropping him down to 10th on the grid and elevating last year's winner up to first.
I was actually lucky not to hit the wall a few times myself - I just closed my eyes and hoped - but the car is responding well
Rosenqvist admitted that he had struggled to keep pace with Giovinazzi once passed, but that's of little concern now to the Swede, who will start from the front of the grid with Charles Leclerc and Alex Sims behind him.
"I was actually lucky not to hit the wall a few times myself - I just closed my eyes and hoped - but the car is responding well and we can come here tomorrow confident," said the 24-year-old.
"It's never easy to lead all the way in this event, so sometimes starting second is actually better, but I'll take it and give them all something to chase."
Rosenqvist followed up his victory last year by capturing his first FIA Formula Three European Championship.
