Adding his name to a roll of honour that includes Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, Naël’s success followed a thrilling slipstream battle on the iconic 6.120-kilometre Guia Circuit.

Having held fourth place initially, Naël, from France, went from third to first in a thrilling double pass on Enzo Deligny and KCMG ENYA Pinnacle Motorsport team-mate Mari Boya with the leading trio running three abreast towards Lisboa Corner on lap 14.

With the safety car deployed shortly after, Naël couldn’t be beaten as Spaniard Boya – who led on two occasions – was forced to settle for second.

Naël follows in the wheel tracks of American Ugo Ugochukwu, the first driver to win the Macau Grand Prix for Formula Regional cars last season.

Deligny took third for the R-ace GP outfit that won of the inaugural FIA FR World Cup, but there was frustration for Freddie Slater and his SJM Theodore Prema Racing team.

Slater, the winner of the FIA-certified Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine this season, started from pole position, lost the lead to Boya at the first corner but reclaimed top spot with a well-judged slipstream pass heading to Lisboa on lap four.

The Qualification Race winner then began to pull ahead when the high-paced action was neutralised behind the safety car on lap nine.

With Boya, an Aston Martin Driver Academy member, taking advantage of the slipstream to make another on-the-limit overtake ahead of the braking zone for Lisboa on lap 11, Slater was in second place when it all went wrong for the Briton before the end of the lap. Powering through R Bend, Slater’s car got out of shape and struck the barrier, forcing his early exit.

Mattia Colnaghi finished fourth for PHM Racing with Taito Kato (ART Grand Prix) the best Macau rookie in fifth. Kato’s team-mate, Evan Giltaire, placed sixth as Trident Motorsport’s Noah Strømstad took seventh. Matteo De Paolo (R-ace GP), Yuki Sano (TOM’S Racing) and José Garfias (PHM Racing) completed the top 10.

Théophile Naël (France) FIA FR World Cup winner: “It feels really, really good. To be honest, I was just patient, the pace was there the whole weekend. Both of my starts yesterday and today didn't go as planned so I just managed to stay calm, I know that we are racing in Macau so everything can happen until the chequered flag. It was a rollercoaster the whole weekend and now the emotions are coming. I did a good restart to be honest, then I just put the sixth gear, went flat out, I look ahead and I don't know why they slowed down a bit too much, so I went to the left and then I closed the door, I braked late, kept an eye on my mirrors as well with Mari, and it worked.”

Mari Boya (Spain) second position FIA FR World Cup: “Freddie was incredibly fast today, we know from all the weekend he was strong, and I knew he had four new tyres, so my plan was to stay with him on the first lap, try to put pressure on him to make a mistake. He was taking many risks, but he was driving really, really good and I felt he had a lot of confidence today. I saw in the first restart that the slipstream was super-powerful. I felt I did a really good job in my first one and he overtook me super-easy at the middle of the run from T2 to T3. Once I couldn't stay with him, I tried to save tyres, prepare for my restart, for my opportunity. Then he made a mistake in the last corner, I thought [the race] was for me because I knew I had a gap. But yeah, again, safety car, one-lap race, ciao… I tried to do whatever in the last two corners, but it's too powerful the slipstream. Théo did an amazing job, congratulations to him, for sure to the team, we did an amazing week together. Maybe today I'm not enjoying that much, but tomorrow, when I look back at the past, I will be really happy and proud about this week. This is an amazing track, I'm a bit sad now but as a driver it's the best experience you can have and yeah, it's unbelievable.”

Enzo Deligny (France) third position FIA FR World Cup: “I just had a really good start from P6 up to P3 immediately, and then I struggled for pace a bit on the first laps and Théo behind was really quick, so I just kept my position, defended the inside as it's quite hard to overtake on the outside and then a safety car. In the end it’s a podium, it’s P3. I don’t think we were the quickest today so I’m still happy. I felt like I did a good restart, but I made sure to not be too close heading into Mandarin to not have to brake too early. I tried to manage the gap perfectly, but I for some reason [Boya] decided to slow down in the middle of the corner, which meant I had to brake as well, which gave Théo the mega run from P3.”

FIA Single-Seater Committee President Emanuele Pirro: “The 72nd Macau Grand Prix produced the best possible show you could imagine. Formula Regional proved absolutely to be the right car for this circuit, we had a field of drivers with a very high experience, which, for me and the FIA was very, very important because this is a driver’s circuit. The show was second to none, a real race that can be remembered in history. I’m really proud what the drivers did and those who came to watch the race can go home with a big smile.”