McLaughlin's Macau fightback ended by crash

Red Bull Junior driver Fionn McLaughlin impressed on his Macau debut before his last-lap crash

British F4 champion Fionn McLaughlin's strong performance in the Macau World Cup qualifying race ended with a last-lap crash.

The Red Bull Junior driver had been on the back foot in the Formula 4 event after mechanical issues in both practice sessions meant he did not set a lap in anger.

But McLaughlin, 18, starred in qualifying and put his Hitech Racing car sixth on the grid despite his lack of running compared to his rivals.

The Northern Ireland driver then made a stunning start to the race and moved up to second behind Emanuele Olivieri, and was on the tail of the Italian driver in the closing stages of the race.

McLaughlin, who had said there was "no room for error" as he prepared to race on a street circuit for the first time, saw his charge come to a tough end on the final lap when he clipped the barriers and retired from the race, which allowed Olivieri to take the chequered flag unchallenged.

Thomas Bearman, younger brother of Formula 1 driver Ollie, and Sebastian Wheldon, son of the late British Indy 500 winner Dan, both crashed out earlier in the race.

In the Macau Grand Prix Formula Regional World Cup, British driver Freddie Slater took a dominant victory in the qualifying race.

Slater, 17, got the better of pole sitter Theophile Nael off the line and was never bettered around the 3.8-mile street circuit.

The feature races for the Formula 4 and Formula Regional World Cups take place on Sunday. Slater will start from pole position, while McLaughlin will line up in 12th place for the F4 race.

In motorcycle racing around the Guia Circuit, Davey Todd produced a dominant performance to win the Macau Grand Prix.

Todd came home ahead of 8TEN Racing team-mate Peter Hickman, and Finland's Erno Kostamo was third.

Northern Ireland's Paul Jordan and the Republiic of Ireland's Michael Sweeney both retired from the race.