Most people reach 60 and start thinking of retiring, but in many ways the Macau Grand Prix is just getting started. From humble beginnings as a simple idea for a fun scavenger hunt around town, the event is now a major and entirely unique international motorsports meet – the breeding ground for many future F1 superstars. The winding street circuit is tight, dangerous, and notoriously unforgiving, and for this reason it is very often named as a favourite for the many drivers who have taken it on. Of course some will complain about the noise and the disruptions, and there have even been rumours of its demise, but as the two full weekends of this year's Diamond Jubilee event demonstrate, the Macau Grand Prix's appeal is as strong as ever. And with the popularity of motorsports booming in Mainland China, the future of this prestigious and historical event seems very much assured.
In the Driver's Seat
It’s quite possible that Rodolfo Ávila and Jerónimo Badaraco could drive around the Guia Circuit with their eyes shut. The two local drivers know the track better than anyone, both from racing on it and driving their private cars around it. And they are both keen to leave their mark on the 60th anniversary edition of the Macau Grand Prix.
The year is 1999, and local race car driver Jerónimo Badaraco is preparing for his debut at the Macau Grand Prix. He is excited but feeling the pressure. After yet another day of preparation, there’s one sacred ritual he has to follow before he goes home.
“In the old days, during the GP time, every evening before going to bed I would drive at least six laps of the circuit in my car. I did this from 1999 to 2002”, he says.
Now things are different. The Macau Grand Prix has grown bigger, the city is busier and it’s impossible to keep his after-hours tradition.
The old days may be gone, but Badaraco, now 39, has some good memories of them. In his very first year competing on the Guia Circuit, he won the Fortuna Cup event.
This year, he is one of nine local drivers racing in the FIA WTCC race, alongside very well-known names like Yvan Muller, Robert Huff and Gabriel Tarquini.
But he doesn’t feel that being a local driver gives him any particular advantage.
“With this kind of traffic, we cannot practice on the circuit”, Badaraco explains.
Rodolfo Ávila grew up watching the Macau Grand Prix and later decided to become a driver. Nowadays he is competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia with Team Jebsen.
“The Jebsen Group has been fully supporting me for the last four years and helping me grow as a GT race car driver.”
The season just finished last month in Shanghai and he made it to third place in the overall rankings. Now he’s coming to Macau to race once again on the circuit he’s extremely familiar with. He agrees that being local doesn’t offer any advantage.
“Of course we know the track, we know when it goes left, right, etc, but I basically have the same time to try the circuit as all the other drivers. Many of them have come to Macau many times. We are local but during the whole year we cannot race on the Guia Circuit, so I feel we are all in the same situation.”
Raising the bar
For this 60th anniversary edition, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race is being held as one of the special event races, and features a big attraction: one of rally racing’s all-time greatest champions Sebastian Loeb is coming to town to drive a Porsche on this urban circuit.
“It’s a big attraction for me, because it’s not every day that you have the chance to race with someone like him. He was rally world champion so many times, and he’s already shown that he can also be fast on this kind of circuit. I think he will do well in Macau”, Ávila believes.
Rodolfo debuted in Macau in 2004, in the Formula 3 GP. Since then he has been participating in Macau in the GT Cup but has never made it to the podium.
“That’s always the goal when I race here. I’ve never achieved it and I really want to make it before I finish my career”, says the 26-year-old. “I believe that this year I have more possibilities, because the cars are all the same and only the driver can make the difference. I’ll try not to feel the pressure and give my best to get into the top three.”
Regarding the FIA WTCC race, Badaraco believes he can be “the fastest local driver” this year, but there’s another even more important objective.
“My biggest goal has to be to finish the two races. Because if I don’t, it means that next year I won’t get any subsidy from the Macau Foundation. The rule is that if you don’t finish the race in Macau, you’re off the subsidy”, he says.
The Macau Foundation subsidises local drivers for them to race in Macau and also in Mainland China and internationally, but if you fail to finish the race in Macau, you’re done.
“Because of only one race, you can damage your career for the next year. It can be a mechanical problem, a tyre that explodes, anything… Before I could be faster and take more risks, but now I always drive with a question mark in my mind”, complains Badaraco.
In 2011 he had “a little failure” and had an accident on the Lisboa corner. “In 2012, I had no subsidy at all for all the other races. It was really hard.”
Badaraco is determined to try to forget the money issues on the day of the races and fight for the WTCC Asia Trophy. Before the two races in Shanghai last month, he was fourth, behind three Japanese drivers. If he does well in Macau, he can still get to the podium and possibly even end the season in first position.
Sharing the Guia Circuit with pilots such as Gabriele Tarquini is something that inspires him.
“I can always learn more from racing with these professional drivers. In 2003 and 2004 I participated in the race alongside Duncan Huisman, who is back this year for the Scirocco R China Masters Challenge. It was very good, you can always learn something from them.”
Track highlights
The Guia Circuit is regularly praised by drivers. Many of them declare their unconditional love for the track and position it number one amongst their favourites. Badaraco is no different and says he likes “almost all corners” in Macau.
“Fisherman’s Wharf and Hotel Mandarin corners are the hardest ones, because we’re going very fast and any mistake can lead to an accident”, he states.
Ávila’s favourite section of the track are the Solitude Esses, which he considers “an amazing part of the circuit” and where “the smallest mistake can put you out” of the race. “It’s a really hard part of the track, if you get distracted you’re done, but it’s a really nice one as well. The whole Macau circuit is full of difficult corners.”
For the GT cars like the Porsche he’ll be driving, he believes the hardest corner is the Mandarin, “a corner where one can lose many seconds.”
Both drivers were tackling the corners ten years ago, when the Macau Grand Prix celebrated its half century.
“It’s always special, it’s a two weekend competition and that makes it different. I’m just worried about the traffic. There will be a lot of trouble for the local people and also for the drivers, because we also need to move from one place to another,” notes Badaraco.
Ávila is also happy to be joining the 60th anniversary celebrations.
“It’s the second time that I’m participating in a two weekend GP and it’s always special. Usually when it’s only one weekend, it seems too short. I think this year it’s going to be amazing. I’ll not only race on the first weekend, but I’ll have the chance to follow the races on the second one”, he says.
The Macau Grand Prix is one “of the most special events” in the city, according to Ávila, not just in terms of motorsports but, “it puts Macau on the world map”.
“Everyone says this is one of the best tracks to race on, no one wants to miss it. In Asia we don’t have similar circuits to this one.
Singapore has an urban circuit but it cannot be compared to Macau.”
Drivers on board
Drivers have to be fast and take risks, especially on a circuit like the one we have in Macau. Jerónimo Badaraco and Rodolfo Ávila do it every year, but when they’re not racing, their driving speed changes and Macau is not a racing playground anymore.
In any rush hour traffic jam in the city, you might very well find yourself behind Badaraco’s BMW 1 Series Cabriolet.
“I like that car because the format is beautiful and it has a very nice balance. It is very powerful; it has more than 300 horsepower. It’s a small car, very suitable for Macau, and I can have lots of fun driving it.”
“But nowadays, with the traffic we have in Macau, even with a small car one gets exasperated. This happens to me everyday. Many times I don’t use a car, I prefer to drive a motorbike”, says Jerónimo.
Rodolfo Ávila is even more radical: “Over the years the traffic has become worse. In Macau I prefer to drive a motorbike than a car. At the end of the afternoon the traffic is really jammed and parking is not easy at all. Nowadays I walk a lot in the city. I used to drive everywhere but now I really like to walk”, he tells CLOSER. “Honestly, I prefer not to drive when I’m not racing, I prefer someone else to drive for me.”
Ávila has cars and motorbikes in Macau, but after many years driving top class automobiles while racing – from Porsche to Ferrari – “the private car is not very important” anymore. “My car just has to take me from point A to point B, I don’t really care about the rest. When I was younger I had some fancy cars, but not anymore. I prefer to buy a cheap car and invest in other stuff.”
Badaraco, on the other hand, is really a car lover both on and off the circuits. “My dream car is a Porsche 911 GT3”, he confesses. But to drive in the city he would also like to have a SMART. The reason is quite simple: “It is as small as a motorbike, but there's no problem when it rains.”
