Best of the Best

Last year the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix celebrated its 30th anniversary and saw the first win by a Portuguese driver, António Félix da Costa.  A late entrant this year, da Costa is returning to race with the Carlin Team, who are pulling out all the stops to get back on the podium in 2013, entering all six of its Volkswagen-powered Dallaras. 

 

The Carlin team features a star-studded line up of drivers including Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr who finished seventh last year, and Macau regular Malaysian Jazeman Jaafar.  Sainz finished in ninth position in the 2013 GP3 series . The team also includes Briton Harry Tincknell who was fifth in the F3 Euroseries this year, and Canada’s Nicholas Latifi.

 

One of the most anticipated driver’s in the Carlin lineup will be Jordan King.  The 18-year-old had a sensational 2013 season winning the British F3 championship and Euroseries 'Rookie of the Year', so fans will be excited to see how he handles the challenging Macau circuit for the first time.

 

Despite his talent, King will have some very stiff competition from the likes of Raffaele Marciello, Felix Rosenqvist, and Alex Lynn.  All three drivers have been battling it out in the F3 Euroseries finishing in first, second and third places respectively.  Marciello crossed the finish line in eighth place in Macau last year, and Rosenqvist took second place just 1.57 seconds behind da Costa.   2013 will be his fourth attempt at Macau and he will certainly be aiming to take the checkered flag for himself this year.

 

Britain’s Alex Lynn was also on the Macau podium last year in third place. This year he joins Marciello as part of Italy’s Prema Powerteam, together with Austrian Lucas Auer, nephew of 1983 Macau GP podium finisher and renowned F1 driver, Gerhard Berger.

 

Auer finished fourth in this year’s F3 Euroseries, so in fact all the top five drivers from the 2013 F3 Euroseries will be here in Macau to battle it out one last time for the year.

 

From Japan comes another champion driver, Yuichi Nakayama, who won the 2013 All-Japan F3 series.  

 

And keep an eye out for the youngest driver on the grid, Indonesia’s Sean Gelael, who turned 17 on November 1.

 

 

 

Nine is the lucky number for the Star River – Windsor Arch Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, with nine new comers, and the inimitable Michael Rutter chasing his ninth victory in Macau.

 

Rutter dominated last year’s meet from beginning to end and already holds the record for all time number of wins in Macau. He returns this year on an SMT Racing Honda. 

 

Countryman Martin Jessop has been hot on his heels for the past two years though, coming in second both times.   Aboard a BMW bike this year, will he finally manage to get out in front and take the top spot?  

 

Another rider who will be hoping that his experience on the Guia Circuit will get him on the podium is John McGuiness who finished in sixth and seventh places in 2011 and 2012 respectively.  McGuinness will take to the track with the Honda TT Legends team.

 

Other strong contenders and Macau regulars are Gary Johnson who finished fourth in 2012, Ian Hutchinson who was third in 2011, as well as Americans Jeremy Toye who took fourth in 2011, and crowd favourite Mark 'Thriller' Miller.

 

Making debuts this year are riders from a number of countries including Roman Stamm and Herve Gantner from Switzerland, Allann-Jon Venter from South Africa, and André Pires from Portugal.  Not surprisingly, there are a number of new riders hailing from the UK such Dean Harrison, Dan Cooper, Graham English and Gen Wylie. And rounding out the list of first-time Macau riders is Irishman Brian McCormack on a TAG Racing Honda.

 

 

 

The WTCC will have a different look this year, with BMW, Chevrolet and SEAT no longer competing in the Manufacturer’s Championship.  Instead it is Honda and Lada, and with only one meet to go, Honda is well out in front.  

 

Winner of last year’s Driver’s Championship Yvan Muller has already successfully defended his title, winning the season for an unprecedented fourth time.  He has continued to drive a Chevrolet this season for the RML team, but Macau will be his last race behind the wheel of the Cruze, before he switches to a Citroen in next year’s season, teaming up with nine-time FIA Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb.

 

Despite already securing the championship, Muller will be keen to finish the season with a win and will likely see his stiffest competition coming from two other WTCC champions on the grid, 2012 winner Robert Huff this year driving a SEAT Leon, and seasoned driver and 2009 champion Gabriel Tarquini, who is behind the wheel of a Honda Civic S2000 and currently second in this season’s standings. Both driver’s have tons of experience on the Guia Circuit and have won on more than one occasion.

 

Another threat to Muller in Macau could be his teammate Briton Tom Chilton who is currently third in the rankings and who won Race 1 recently in Sonoma USA.  

 

Together with Tarquini and Chilton, there are three other drivers in contention for runner-up Champion for the season, including James Nash, Michel Nykjaer and Norbert Michelisz, so these drivers will definitely be giving it their all in Macau.

 

Michelisz recently took first place in Race 1 in Suzuka in his Honda Civic and has had six podium finishes this season.  The winner of Race 2 in Suzuka was the popular Dutchman Tom Coronel who has also had one of his most successful seasons, driving for the ROAL BMW squad.  For sure, his Macau fans would love to see him race to victory here.

 

Making his WTCC Macau debut is last year’s GT1 World Champion, Marc Basseng.  And representing Macau are a total of eight drivers including André Couto in a Campos Racing SEAT Leon and Jerónimo Badaraco in a Son Veng Racing Chevrolet Cruze LT.

 

 

 

While the Macau Grand Prix has a history of 60 years, the Macau GT Cup has been around for just six.  Nonetheless, it has become one of the most hotly contested events at the meet and this year there are 34 drivers from 16 countries.   Nine of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers are represented including Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes and Porsche. 

 

Leading the pack in an Audi R8 LMS is undisputed four-wheel king of the Guia Circuit, Italian Edoardo Mortara.  He is the only driver to have won the F3 Grand Prix twice (consecutively in 2009 and 2010), and he also won back to back GT Cups in 2011 and 2012.  It’s fair to say that he seems unstoppable, but there will be plenty of competitive drivers trying to do just that. 

 

Shanghai-based Swiss driver Alexandre Imperatori and Briton Danny Watts, came in second and third respectively last year.  Imperatori will be driving his Porsche 911 GT3R and Watts will again be behind the wheel of a McLaren MP4-12C GT3.   

 

Two-time race winner Keita Sawa had bad luck in a Porsche last year, not finishing the race. This year he is back in his Lamborghini LP600 GT3 so look out for a determined comeback.

 

Challenging Mortara in another Audi R8 LMS is last year’s Audi R8 LMS Cup champion Marchy Yee Ying King of Hong Kong.  And the current leader of this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, Earl Bamber from New Zealand will also be on the starting grid hoping for success.