Antonio da Costa wins Macau Grand Prix

A Portuguese winner of the Macau Grand Prix - what better, given the former colony's history. But if Antonio da Costa thought this was home from home, he got a surprise when he stood on the podium for the national anthem.

Nobody knew what the song played was, but it certainly wasn't A Portuguesa. As ranks of fans with Portuguese heritage booed, a minor farce played out as organisers tried to find the proper song, were overtaken by the crowd's a cappella version, then finally got the right CD or MP3 to let Da Costa hear it again.

That was about the only thing that went wrong for the Carlin driver, who led almost from start to finish to claim the title at the third attempt, setting the fastest lap in a near-perfect display. He is the only Portuguese to have won since Eduardo de Carvalho in 1954's first edition, so maybe the anthem snafu was understandable.

"It does make it extra special winning in Macau and being Portuguese," said the 21-year-old. "The little incident we had on the podium was a bit sad, but on the other hand you saw all the people down there singing the national anthem, it was very emotional for me.

"I think it's the best win of my career, I've won many races in many places but this is the one. It only happens once a year and it's really, really special."

Second-placed Felix Rosenqvist (Mucke) overtook him at the start, but Da Costa immediately reeled him back in, then held the Swede off as he tried to slipstream past when the safety car left the track on lap six. Alex Lynn capped a superb debut with third place for Fortec.