This year’s Macau Grand Prix, the 53rd running of the event, took place over the weekend of November 18 and 19 and, without doubt, was a great result for the visiting British contingent.

British rider Michael Rutter came to Macau with the intention of taking the outright record for wins in the motorcycle event, on this occasion the 40th running of the race. On hand to witness an historic occasion were previous winners Kevin Schwantz, Belgian Didier de Radigues and Britain’s Mick Grant, as well as the ever popular “Rocket” Ron Haslam who held the record of six wins jointly with Rutter. Rutter took pole position for Saturday’s 15-lap Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, giving him the perfect launch pad to set a record-breaking seventh victory in
the event.

The 33-year-old British racer stayed top of the practice leaderboard despite being unable to go faster on his Stobart Motorsport Honda 1000 in the deciding qualifying session.

‘We decided to keep old race tyres and have a full tank of gas just to see how the bike would go in race trim rather than try to improve on the quick lap I did yesterday,’ said a delighted Rutter.

In the race on Saturday afternoon, Steve Plater took a fine victory and put paid to Michael Rutter’s hopes of adding to his tally of wins. Plater, on the Yamaha, passed Rutter on lap four and stayed ahead of his rival until the chequered flag. Rutter, looking for his seventh win, tried hard to regain the advantage and four times he and Plater broke Rutter’s long-standing lap record.
One man who was not disappointed that Rutter was beaten was, of course, Ron Haslam who shares with him the record of six wins in the event. Haslam said afterwards, simply, ‘One more year ....,’ which really said it all.

World Touring Car Championship – Down to the Wire in Macau
The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) had visited nine countries since the first race at Monza in April; and Macau once again hosted the final two rounds of the title chase. The WTCC had been a fiercely fought battle between BMW, Alfa Romeo, SEAT and, this year, the more competitive Chevrolet Lacettis. Heading the drivers’ championship as the series came to Macau was Brazil’s Augusto Farfus with a slender one-point lead over Andy Priaulx and Jorg Muller, tied for second place. Gabriele Tarquini was in fourth spot, only two points further back, with Rickard Rydell only another three points adrift of Tarquini.

Priaulx takes victory in race one
Andy Priaulx converted his pole position into a dominant victory in the first FIA World Touring Car Championship race at Macau to seize the lead of the title chase.

The BMW driver made a good start from pole position and, despite attempts by Dirk Muller and Duncan Huisman to wrest the lead on the run down to Lisboa, the Briton was comfortably ahead by the braking zone.

He then set about pulling away and, despite a worrying moment on lap two when he was forced to reduce his speed to a crawl
at the Melco Hairpin after coming up behind a very slow Stefano D’Aste, he comfortably edged out a lead to finish 1.020 seconds ahead of Huisman.

‘I am very pleased to have got the win from pole position, but obviously we have still got to perform in the second race,’ said Priaulx, who was relieved that the following Huisman was protecting his position.

The result provided a major boost for Priaulx’s championship ambitions, especially with many of his title rivals hitting trouble. Yvan Muller’s third place was not enough to keep him in the fight, while Dirk Muller’s hopes were wrecked when he was spun around by Fabrizio Giovanardi at Lisboa on lap one. He recovered to finish 14th.

The only other men still able to win the championship after the race were Augusto Farfus. Jr, who finished fifth behind Giovanardi, and Jorg Muller who took sixth.

Priaulx takes title as Muller wins race
Jorg Muller dominated the second WTCC race at Macau but it was not enough to prevent BMW teammate Andy Priaulx from taking his second successive world crown.
Muller moved to the front of the field at the start after making a brilliant getaway, but he was immediately put under pressure from title rival Augusto Farfus Jr. who was tucked right in his slipstream. Farfus got sideways going through Mandarin Bend, though, and swiped the barriers – damaging his car and putting himself out of the race.

That left the way open for Muller to charge clear at the front, but the Safety Car was brought out following a collision between Gabriele Tarquini and Rob Huff’s Chevrolet that partially blocked the track.

Second place eventually went to Yvan Muller, who fought off race-long pressure from the pursuing Tom Coronel until the chequered flag, while SEAT’s James Thompson finished fourth.

Behind him, Priaulx took fifth place, which was enough for him to take the WTCC title by one point from Muller. After fighting off a tough challenge from eventual sixth placed finisher Fabrizio Giovanardi, Priaulx claimed it was the ‘hardest and best’ race of his career.

‘It is almost too much to take in,’ said Priaulx. ‘The pressure was unbearable. I could not have gone another lap. It means a lot more to me now having won the first race. I came fifth in the second race with no help from anyone at all.’

Conway wins Macau Grand Prix
British Formula Three champion Mike Conway won the Polytec Macau Formula Three Grand Prix after resisting a late-race charge from Richard Antinucci.

Conway took the lead of the race at Lisboa Bend on the first lap after the three leading cars all slid down the escape road. Early leader Marko Asmer had no option but to miss the corner after Scotsman Paul di Resta locked up under braking and slid into the back of pole sitter Kamui Kobayashi, forcing both of them to go straight on into Asmer’s path.

After staying clear of trouble, Conway set about opening up an early one-second lead over Kohei Hirate, but the Safety Car was called out on lap two after Di Resta and Rodolfo Avila crashed at Fishermen’s Bend.

The race restarted on lap five and Conway once again pushed hard to open up an early advantage, although he nearly came to grief after brushing the wall near Maternity Bend on lap six – leaving marks of yellow paint on his right front wheel.
Antinucci set about trying to close down Conway’s lead but after losing time behind a backmarker on the penultimate lap, he ran out of time to be able to mount a challenge. The American finished 1.4 seconds behind, with Formula One test hopeful Sutil taking third.

Conway was clearly delighted with the victory, but admitted that his brush with the wall had been a worry. ‘I am very happy with this result,’ he said. ‘But it was a heart-stopping moment when I touched the wall. Luckily there wasn’t much damage.’

Asked if it had been easy – which it looked – Conway said, ‘It’s never easy in Macau. It’s always difficult. If you make a mistake, you’re going to hit something.’Sebastien Buemi took advantage of a high rate of attrition to take fourth place, with Romain Grosjean recovering from being hit by Kobayashi at Lisboa on lap nine to finish fifth. James Jakes was sixth.