Rising star Darren Manning hopes to follow in the tyre tracks of Formula One legend Ayrton Senna - and climb to the pinnacle of Grand Prix racing. The 24-year-old British driver powered his way to a commanding victory in the 46th Macau Grand Prix yesterday, producing a performance reminiscent of the late, great Brazilian. In a display of raw power, Manning became the first driver since Senna 16 years ago to win both races from pole position as well as setting a lap record. Asked later whether he realised that he had matched Senna's achievements in the the race, Manning smiled: 'Hopefully, I will follow in his footsteps and be as great as he was. You've got to push the wall in this race, but when it's your year, nothing can stop you.' Manning had been supremely confident all week and blitzed the opposition to become the fastest man on the 3.8-mile Guia circuit when he set a lap record of two minutes and 14.264 seconds in his Tom's Toyota Dallara F399. His time beat Belgium's Bas Leinders' previous best of 2:14.491, which was set last year. Fellow Briton Jenson Button was second overall in a Renault, but he finished 24.590 seconds behind Manning on aggregate. Third overall was Japanese Tsugio Matsuda, who was 32.859 seconds off the pace, in a Mugen Honda. 'I was ready to say bye-bye to Darren and just hoped to get second, which I did,' said Button. The 19-year-old had collided with local favourite Andre Couto after the first lap of the second leg at the tricky Lisboa Bend. Macau veteran Couto was forced to drop out. 'I was able to come round him and I tried to pull back as much as I could. Even so, I touched him around the corner,' Button added. But in the end, it was Manning's day of glory. And now the Japanese Formula Three champion plans to hit the US$100,000 jackpot put up for winning both the Macau Grand Prix and the inaugural Korean Grand Prix this weekend. 'It has just been a fantastic weekend for me,' said the ever-smiling Yorkshireman, who hopes to be competing in Formula One next year. 'The team did a fantastic job on the car.' Not even a mass pile-up could halt Manning's charge. At the start of the first leg, 10 cars were involved in a multiple smash that mirrored the infamous 1996 'carnage' at the corner which leads to San Francisco Hill. Austrian Robert Leckner careened into a barrier and the scenes that followed were not for the faint hearted. As Leckner smashed into the barrier, other cars were drawn in. When the dust had settled, a total of six cars were out of the race. During all this, Manning had roared clear and was looking at an open road ahead. It was a similar story after the re-start. Manning got off to a flyer to win the race from Couto and Button. The 14.760-second gap between Manning and Couto indicated how strong the Yorkshireman was and when he got another good start in the second leg, it wasn't a question of who was going to win the race, but by how much. Manning gave himself another 8.801-second cushion at the end of the second leg.
