Full Throttle

Windsor Arch 56th Macau Grand Prix Gets Underway with Unusual Challenge.

FIA World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC) drivers Tiago Monteiro (SEAT Sport), Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany) and Robert Huff (Chevrolet) dash to the finish of the Macau Grand Prix Challenge today, with their tower of dim sum baskets, marking the start of the event.

The six-man FIA WTCC entry beat teams made up of drivers from the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix, and riders from the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – 43rd Edition by navigating a Macau-themed obstacle course, which included as its finale, stacking and carrying dim sum baskets to the finish line.

Special guest David Brabham, 1989 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix winner, was on hand to wave the chequered flag for each of the teams.

The annual meet-and-greet for media and public, which is followed by an autograph session, is popular with both fans and media, and the competitors received a warm Macau welcome in the chilly weather.

David Brabham Set for Macau Return

In 1989, legendary racing driver David Brabham beat the likes of Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Eddie Irvine – not to mention his own brother Gary – to take victory in the blue riband Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix.

To help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau SAR, Brabham, this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours winner and American Le Mans Series Champion will return to Macau two decades after his memorable win there.

The youngest son of three-time Formula 1 World Champion, Sir Jack Brabham, who this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of his first title in 1959, brothers Geoff and Gary are also both successful racing drivers. Sir Jack competed at Macau in the famous Race of Giants, held to celebrate the 25th Macau Grand Prix in 1978, along with legends Stirling Moss, Jackie Ickx, Thailand’s Prince Birabongse, and Macau’s own Teddy Yip.

David Brabham still has fond memories of his win at Macau, and believes the event has lost none of its cache in the last 20 years, saying recently: “For a Formula 3 driver, Macau is the Holy Grail. I think everybody recognises it’s a tough race to win. It’s still seen as the place for a young driver to demonstrate his talent.

“I was fortunate enough to win Macau and Formula 3, and then I went from Formula 3 to Formula 1. Macau can do that to your career.”

He made his Formula 1 debut in 1990 with the Brabham team, founded by his father in 1962, however the outfit struggled to keep pace with better-funded rivals, and he was afforded just a single season.

The following year, Brabham embarked upon what would be a stellar career in sports and touring cars, taking victory in the Spa 24 Hours, and the following season the 24 Hours of Daytona. The victories keep on coming, evidenced by his dream season in 2009, highlighted by an outright victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as claiming the ALMS title.

In addition to his own successful racing career, Brabham also runs a young driver program, the MSA British Race Elite. This year, two of his students are entered in the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix: Sam Bird and Alexander Sims, and each hopes to achieve what his mentor did 20 years ago – take a coveted FIA Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup victory.

Having not set foot in Macau since 1989, Brabham believes it is time to go back and revisit the event which played such an integral part in his career: “Sometimes you get a flashback, something you read or you bump into someone, and it’s always nice to think about Macau.”

The Windsor Arch 56th Macau Grand Prix will be held from November 19-22, and will feature the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix, the final rounds of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, and a host of supporting races.

Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix-FIA Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup.

The world’s most talented junior single-seater drivers will once again come together to contest the end-of-season Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix, the FIA Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup.

A grid of 30 of the finest F3 drivers on the planet will compete for the coveted title, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard, who all won the world’s most prestigious junior race before progressing into Formula One.

No fewer than 19 of this year’s F1 drivers contested the Macau GP earlier in their careers, and the list of those hoping to continue that tradition makes for impressive reading in 2009.

The champions of the world’s three leading F3 series will go head-to-head in Macau, with Japanese champion Marcus Ericsson (Tom’s), Euro Series champion Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix), and British champion Daniel Ricciardo (Carlin Motorsport) the favorites heading into the event.

Both Frenchman Bianchi and Swede Ericsson have experience of the Guia following their debuts last season, while Ricciardo will drive the world famous street circuit for the first time this year.

Japan’s Tom’s team will be on the hunt for their third successive Macau victory, having clinched the coveted title in 2007 with Oliver Jarvis, and last year with Japan’s Keisuke Kunimoto. Joining Ericsson at Tom’s this year is Japanese championship runner-up Takuto Iguchi.

Keisuke’s younger brother, Yuji, will make his Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix debut with NOW Motor Sport, having had his first taste of the Guia Circuit in last year’s Formula BMW Pacific race, where he finished an impressive fifth.

The younger Kunimoto placed third in the Japanese championship this year, ahead of Kei Cozzolino of Monaco, the sole entrant from Toda Racing at Macau.

Runner up at Macau last year and GP2 debutant this season, Edoardo Mortara of Italy is back, and joins Belgian Laurens Vanthoor and Finn Mika Mäki at Signature.

New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley finished third at Macau last year, and set the fastest F3 lap during the course of the week. He returns with Carlin Motorsport hoping for a strong end to what has been a challenging Euro Series season for the youngster who received his F1 Superlicence in April this year.

Another two drivers returning for another shot at Macau Grand Prix glory will be hoping to avenge their heartbreak of last year. Dutchman Carlo van Dam and Briton Sam Bird were first and second quickest in qualifying in 2008, but van Dam crashed in the qualification race while Bird was taken out at the first corner of the main event.

Van Dam is back this year with British team Hitech Racing, while Bird has joined champion Euro Series outfit ART Grand Prix.

Other Euro Series regulars include ART’s Valtteri Bottas, winner of the Zandvoort F3 Masters earlier this year, Alexander Sims, who has joined City of Dreams/ Räikkönen Robertson from regular team Mücke Motorsport, and Manor Motorsport’s Roberto Merhi.

Manor will also run British F3 regular Colombian Carlos Huertas, Carlin will field its regulars from Britain, Max Chilton and Henry Arundel, while Fortec Motorsport has Jake Rosenzweig of the USA joining regulars Spaniard Victor Garcia and Briton Daniel McKenzie.

Closer to home, Macau’s Michael Ho will be flying the flag for the SAR as it celebrates its tenth anniversary, with Kevin Chen of Chinese Taipei making his Macau debut with Champ Motorsport/Räikkönen Robertson.

An impressive line-up indeed for the 27th running of this prestigious Blue Riband event, the only one of its kind in the world.

FIA WTCC - Guia Race of Macau.

The 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship is set to be decided on the streets of Macau – the fifth year in a row that the Guia Race has crowned the champion of tin-top racing.

This year the main fight is between factory SEAT team-mates Gabriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller. Frenchman Muller sealed his first world title in Macau last year but is up against it to retain his crown, with ex-Formula One driver Tarquini having had the edge of him in the second half of this season.

BMW’s lead driver Augusto Farfus remains a long shot heading into the final races of the season, having fallen away from the SEAT team-mates as the FIA WTCC left the European leg of its season behind.

The title will be decided by two nine-lap races on Sunday, November 22, and with just a 15-minute break between the two, the drivers and teams will face their toughest challenge of the season yet on one of the most unique and challenging race tracks in the world.

While the racing so far this year between SEAT team-mates Tarquini and Muller has been limited, with both drivers working to get the best results for the team, Macau could change all that. With the title on the line and the manufacturer’s title likely to be decided first, they should be free to have a head-to-head fight for honors.

“Of course this year we have been racing for the team, always getting the best results for the team,” said Tarquini. “I tried not to think too much about the drivers’ championship yet, I just wanted to go to Macau with a chance to win it and then everything can be decided in Macau.”

Muller too is looking forward to the decider on a circuit where he has had both good and bad experiences in recent years.

“In 2007, Macau was not so good for me,” recalls the Frenchman. “I had a chance to win the title but I had a fuel pump failure and I lost, that was very hard. But last year I could reach the podium in both races and I won the championship. For me it is a nice circuit, a big challenge and I always enjoy driving at Macau.”

BMW has not enjoyed the same success this year as it has in the past, but its drivers still look forward to ending their seasons on the streets of Macau.

“It’s a really special place,” said Andy Priaulx, who sealed three consecutive world titles in Macau between 2005 and 2007. “It’s like no other circuit in the world and the challenge for the drivers is unreal. The feeling when you win a race around here is just incredible and I can’t wait for the two races.”

SEAT and BMW won’t be the only manufacturers competing for glory though, with Chevrolet looking to extend its winning streak at Macau, and Lada continuing to make progress and hoping to score more points in the finale.

Chevrolet won both races at Macau last year with Alain Menu and Robert Huff taking a win each in the final FIA WTCC races for the Lacetti model. The manufacturer has been campaigning its new Cruze car this year, which has been especially competitive on street circuits, and all three works drivers have tasted victory in 2009.

“Our record on street circuits is really good so I’m definitely hoping to continue that in Macau,” said Huff. “We’ve had another good year on street tracks and the memory of winning at Macau last year is a great one for me – one I’d very much like to repeat this time.”

Several local drivers will join the FIA WTCC field for the Macau races, with the experienced André Couto driving a third SUNRED Engineering SEAT León, and Liu Lic Ka, Henry Ho, and Joseph Rosa Merszei all racing Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMWs.

Japanese racers Nobuteru Taniguchi and Takayuki Aoki also join the FIA WTCC regulars on the Guia Circuit in BMWs.

The Windsor Arch 56th Macau Grand Prix runs from Thursday, November 19th to Sunday November 23rd, and features the unofficial world cup of Formula 3, the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix; the final rounds of the 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship; the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix; and a host of thrilling support races. Food festivals, exhibitions and fireworks combine with the high-octane, on-track action to ensure Macau really is a city which never sleeps for the month of November.