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Lucky Number 8

The 69th Macau Grand Prix took place under perfect November weather, with lots of great racing action, the return of the MotorCycle GP and local driver Andy Chang Wing Chung winning the formula 4 GP for the first time.
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The 69th Macau Grand Prix took place under perfect November weather, with lots of great racing action, the return of the MotorCycle GP and  local driver Andy Chang Wing Chung winning the formula 4 GP for the first time.

It was a big weekend for local racing talent all round, and headlining the success story was hometown hero Andy Chang Wing Chung, racing with CHAMP Motorsport, who came through for a fairytale victory in the Sands China Formula 4 Macau Grand Prix.

In Race 1 on Saturday, Macau Grand Prix rookie Gerrard Xie Wing Lam took the chequered flag, putting him in pole position for Race 2 on Sunday, ahead of Andy Chang and fellow Macau driver Charles Leong Hon Choi, driving with Theodore Blackjack Racing.

On Lap 6, Andy Chang tucked into Xie’s slipstream through Mandarin before grabbing the lead in the Lisboa braking zone. He then bolted away from his rival and continued to push for the remainder of the race, his margin an incredible 5.9 seconds as he crossed the line to add his name to the prestigious list of Grand Prix winners. The victory followed consecutive second places for Chang behind Charles Leong in 2020 and 2021, and means local drivers have now won the Macau Grand Prix three years in a row.

“I still can’t believe I won the race,” said Chang. “I had a really good car. Thanks to the team for that. Everything was perfect.”

Xie capped off an impressive Macau Grand Prix debut with second place, while defending two-time winner Charles Leong had to settle for third this time around.

Great Finnish 

Having dominated free practice and qualifying, Erno Kostamo continued the trend by becoming the first Finnish rider, and the first non-British winner since 1997, to claim victory in the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix . He also recorded the fastest lap of the race as he powered his Penz 13 BMW to the chequered flag. However, he had to work for the win.  Starting from pole position, he didn’t get a great start and quickly found himself in fourth place.  

It was Portugal’s Sheridan Morais who initially led the field on his SYNTAINICS by Penz 13 Honda. Kostamo made up for his poor start by overtaking Robert Hodson and then David Datzer as they rounded the iconic Lisboa Bend for the first time.  The front three held their positions until lap three when both Kostamo and Datzer passed Morais at Melco and from that point on the Finn dominated, posting the fastest lap of the race and taking the chequered flag with an advantage of 8.2 seconds over Datzer, who in turn was 2.6 seconds ahead of Morais.

“The week went as planned,” said a delighted Kostamo. “I felt confident from the word go, just focusing on doing my own thing. I worked hard on my braking and that paid off. It’s an amazing feeling to win at Macau.”

Engel Makes it Three

Maro Engel is now a three-time winner of the Galaxy Entertainment Macau GT Cup after out-lasting fellow Mercedes driver Raffaele Marciello in Race 2 on Sunday.

The race got off to a thrilling start with the pair of Mercedes going through the first two corners side-by-side. Marciello grabbed the lead and immediately put some breathing space between his TORO Racing-run AMG and the Engel’s Craft-Bamboo entry – but the lead was short-lived.

On just the second lap, Marciello’s race unraveled when he fired down the escape road at the Melco Hairpin, ending his hopes of a second Macau GT Cup crown.  

Moments later the race was neutralised by the safety car with the green flag coming out again with only two of the eight laps left to run. Former seven-time winner in Macau, Edoardo Mortara did his best to take the fight to Engel over the two-lap dash to the flag, but the German held his nerve to win the race.

The victory makes Engel a three-time Macau GT Cup winner, this triumph now sitting alongside his 2014 and 2015 efforts.

“It feels amazing to get another main race win,” said Engel. “We came close on many occasions throughout the years but never quite got it done. To do it with Craft-Bamboo Racing, which is Hong Kong-based, is amazing.”

“It is still challenging times at the moment, so I want to say thank you to all the people who are not here, who were helping us remotely. Both engineering-wise at Craft-Bamboo and Mercedes AMG back in Affalterbach. A big thank you to them. They were waking up at crazy times to join the debriefs and help us this weekend.”

Mortara (Audi) was second, while Alexandre Imperatori (Porsche) got past Saturday’s surprise podium finisher Ling Kang (Lamborghini) to finish third.

De Souza Double 

Another local success story on the racing weekend was Filipe de Souza, who took back-to-back victories in the Wynn Macau Guia Race – TCR Asia Challenge on Saturday and Sunday.  De Souza’s victory in Race 1 saw him become the first Macau driver to take the chequered flag in the Wynn Macau Guia Race.

In Race 2 on Sunday, de Souza led away from pole and raced to an early lead, but charges from Hong Kong drivers Lo Sze Ho in a Z-Challenger Racing Hyundai i30 N TCR and Andy Yan Cheuk Wai’s Team TRC Honda Civic Type R TCR, left the race poised for a grandstand finish.

In a great display of driving, Yan worked is way up from 17th on the grid to third, and Lo progressed from 12th on the grid up to second place and on the tail of de Souza’s CHAMP Motorsport Audi.

Any hopes of a thrilling finish ended prematurely though as on the last lap, Lo crashed, exiting the fast right-hand Mandarin Oriental Bend and pounding his Hyundai into the inside barrier.

Yan had passed de Souza for the lead before Lisboa when the red flag was shown, but de Souza was classified as the winner, having led the field as they started the final lap.

Lo remained second in the final classification ahead of Yan but did not attend the podium, as he was taken to Conde S Januario Hospital, where he later reported that he was OK.

Zhang holds off Huff

The MGM Macau Touring Car Cup – China Touring Car Championship saw the return of British driver Rob Huff, the most successful racer in Macau Grand Prix history. On Saturday he added to his tally of wins, taking the chequered flag in Race 1 and giving him a total of 11 wins in Macau.  

In Race 2 on Sunday however, Huff was unable to get past Zhang Zhi Qiang, who made it across the line in first place, giving him three Macau victories in three years.  The Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing driver had to work his way up from sixth on the partially reversed grid, but led before the end of lap five and quickly set about stretching clear of the pack.

That gave Zhang crucial breathing space while Huff brought his MG5 X POWER TCR through from ninth on the grid. By the final lap Huff was just three tenths of a second behind Zhang, but the Chinese driver proved a worthy opponent as he held firm into Lisboa Bend and then denied Huff a look up the inside at San Francisco. Huff’s engine cut  out exiting the hairpin on the final lap, ending any final hopes of a double victory, leaving Zhang to take the chequered flag one second clear. 

The podium was completed by polesitter Gao who took a comfortable third, seven seconds ahead of Macau driver Rodolfo Avila’s MG.

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