56th Macau Grand Prix Information
Dates: November 19-22, 2009
Tickets: www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo
As the countdown to the Grand Prix begins, keep track of the riders and
drivers who could be Macau-bound in November!
FORMULA 3 MACAU GRAND PRIX
FIA INTERCONTINENTAL F3 CUP
Masters of Formula 3
Bottas masterful at Zandvoort
F3 Euroseries driver Valtteri Bottas (ART Grand Prix) became the first
Finnish champion of the Masters of Formula 3, winning the 2009 race
from lights to chequered flag at Zandvoort on June 14. Joining Bottas
on the podium were fellow Euroseries competitors Mika Maki (Signature)
and Stefano Coletti (Prema Powerteam). In fourth was Bottas's Euroseries
teammate and defending Masters champion Jules Bianchi. Alexander Sims
(Mucke) rounded out the top five.
The victory was ART's sixth consecutive win in the Masters and Coletti's
third-place finish made him the first Monegasque to land on the Masters
podium.
Bottas got off to a strong start from pole position, fending off a
challenge from Maki. By the end of the first third of the race, Bottas
had nearly a four-second lead over Maki, which was, by race's end,
reduced to 2.610 seconds. With Bottas and Maki fighting at the front,
Coletti and Bianchi were engaged in their own battle for the final
podium position. Coletti won out and Bianchi, who had qualified for pole
position prior to being penalized for blocking other drivers during the
final qualifying session, finished just off of the podium.
While Bottas, the reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion, has yet
to make his debut at the Macau Grand Prix, Maki just missed the podium
in 2008, finishing fourth, while Bianchi had a top-ten finish and Sims
finished eighth and qualified third in Formula BMW Pacific's season
ending round at the Macau Grand Prix.
Formula 3 Euro Series
Hartley named Red Bull Racing's reserve driver
New Zealand's Brendon Hartley made great strides towards his goal of Formula
1 after the 19-year old was named Red Bull Racing's reserve and test driver
in early May. Hartley, who competed at the Macau Grand Prix in both 2007 and
2008, finished
third at last year's race, catapulting from the back of the field onto the
podium.
Hartley has been supported by Red Bull since 2005, and the promising young
driver was awarded his super-license just in time for May's Spanish Grand
Prix. Along with his Red Bull Racing duties,
Hartley has been performing well in both the F3 Euroseries with Carlin
Motorsport
and selected rounds of the World Series by Renault with Tech 1 Racing.
Cooper Tires British F3 International Series
Former Formula BMW Junior tops leaderboard
Australian ace Daniel Ricciardo (Carlin Motorsport) has been making waves in
the 2009 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International
Series, taking four victories in six starts, with one pole position. He
currently leads the championship points table, and had impressed throughout
winter testing.
Ricciardo began his international motorsport
career in 2006, when he won a coveted scholarship for Formula BMW Asia (now
Pacific). He found success on track, finishing third in the Drivers
Classification
that season, and 5th in the Formula BMW World Final, the end-of-season race
consisting of drivers from each of the three Formula BMW series.
Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix Alumni Update
Conway impresses on Indy500 debut
Briton Mike Conway found success in his debut at the Indy500 on May 24. The
2006 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix champion ran as high as tenth in his first
attempt at the iconic American race, and was the highest-finishing rookie.
With an overall placing of 18th, Conway
moved up nine positions from his 27th starting position. The 25-year old put
in a sensational effort during the 200-lap race and had it not been for a
late pit stop to refuel and a long, late yellow flag, Conway could have very
well stayed within the top 10.
The 2009 Indy500 was only the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver's second oval
race.
For the past two years, the former F3 British champion was with GP2, first
driving
with Super Nova Racing and then, last year, with Trident Racing. However,
Conway decided to transition to the US Indy Racing League in 2009 and now
four races into the season, Conway
sits 21st in the points.
Prior to the race, it was unclear if Conway
would even be allowed to start. A crash on Turn 1 during a practice session
two weeks before the race caused Conway to suffer a bruised lung and mild
concussion. Subsequently he was kept in hospital overnight for observation,
while fellow Macau Grand Prix winner
Darren Manning was put on standby.
Brabham wins at Le Mans
David Brabham, the 1989 Macau Grand Prix winner, took home his first Le Mans
24-hour victory along with teammates
Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene. The trio's Peugeot beat out another Peugeot
team of Franck Montagny, Stephane
Sarrazin and Sebastien Bourdais.
Wurz competed in the Macau Grand Prix twice -- in 1994 and in 1995, where he
placed seventh.
An elated Brabham said he was delighted
with the victory, especially as his brother Geoff had won the Le Mans
24-hour race in a Peugeot in 1993.
FIA WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
GUIA RACE OF MACAU
PRESENTED BY SOCIEDADE DE JOGOS DE MACAU, S.A.
Muller in strong championship defense
With 12 races complete, Yvan Muller (SEAT Sport) leads the driver standings
in the 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship. For the fifth straight year,
the FIA WTCC will conclude its championship with two races at the Macau
Grand Prix in November.
The 2009 championship kicked off in Brazil with reigning champion Muller
continuing
his fine form by winning the first race of the year. Having taken his first
FIA WTCC championship title in 2008, Muller is looking strong again this
season,
having increased his points lead to 10 points over his teammate Gabriele
Tarquini after last weekend's two rounds in Brno, Czech Republic, which were
won by BMW Team Italy-Spain drivers Alessandro
Zanardi and Sergio Hernandez.
There is still over half a season to go before the FIA WTCC returns to
Macau, and if the past four years provide any hints at the outcome, then the
56th Macau
Grand Prix should not be missed!
MACAU MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX
Macau riders shine at Isle of Man TT
Two-time Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix winner Steve Plater took a dramatic
win in the Senior TT at the demanding
Isle of Man TT recently, beating fellow
Macau regular Conor Cummins.
The win capped off a successful week for the Briton, who finished with a
second-place finish and three other top-five finishes.
The victory was Plater's second TT win in only three years of competing on
one of the world's most challenging courses.
Plater and his teammate, former Macau
winner John McGuinness, set the pace during the Senior TT, with McGuinness
smashing his own lap record
-- an incredible 131.578mph lap on Lap 2. McGuinness was later forced to
retire with a broken chain.
The weeklong festival was first interrupted
by rain and heavy winds, cancelling racing on the first Saturday
and then the Sunday as well.
When racing began on Monday, the first race of the festival, the Superbike
TT, was won McGuinness. It was the Briton's
15th TT victory and he was joined on the podium by Plater and Guy Martin.
The 2009 Isle of Man TT was also successful for Ian Hutchinson, who won both
the Supersport TT Race 1 and the Superstock TT. Two other top-five finishes
made Hutchinson one of the big winners in this year's event. Martin and
Keith Amor finished second
and third, respectively, in both the Supersport TT and the Superstock TT.
Michael Dunlop was the winner of the Supersport TT Race 2, with Bruce Anstey
and Cummins following him onto the podium, and Plater and Hutchinson
rounding out the top five.
Northwest 200 wrap-up
Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix regulars
were on the podium during the 2009 North West 200, with Briton Steve Plater
winning two of the five races on May 16 at the popular event in Northern
Ireland.
Plater won both the Superbike and the Supersport races, followed home by New
Zealander Bruce Anstey in each.
2008 Macau Grand Prix third-place finisher
John McGuinness, also put in an excellent
showing at the North West 200 with a podium, a fourth and a sixth-place
finish.
Plenty of other Macau Grand Prix regulars
had good outings, including six-time winner Michael Rutter, Ian Hutchinson,
Chris Palmer, James McBride, Ryan Farquhar, Ian Lougher, Rico Penzkofer, Les
Shand and Conor Cummins.
Plater scores at Le Mans
Steve Plater finished second in the Le Mans 24 Hours World Endurance race in
April along with Honda France teammates Sebastien Charpentier and Matthieu
Lagrive.
The trio started at the head of the field after posting the fastest time in
qualifying.
However, after just 11 laps, Lagrive crashed and the bike had to be brought
back to the garage. They returned to the track in 43rd position and a few
hours later had moved up into 10th. Adversity struck again when the heavens
opened but the team successfully played catch-up for the second time and
managed to reach the podium at the end of a grueling 24 hours.
Fernandes returns to World Endurance Championship
Macau rider Joao Fernandes, who finished
third in the Supersport category during the 2008 Macau Grand Prix, has
returned to the World Endurance Championship
after two years away from competition
at a world championship level.
-credit: macu gp
