Macau Grand Prix

The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for touring, grand touring and sports cars.

The first Macau Grand Prix was held in 1954 as a sports car event. In 1967, the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix was introduced. In 2008, a GT3 race was added to the event, which became known as the FIA GT World Cup.

The Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix featured many national Formula 3 champions and drivers from around the world, with the winner being awarded the FIA Formula 3 World Cup.

Due to the challenging nature of the Guia Circuit, which consists of fast straights (a Formula 3 car can reach a top speed of at the end of the straight), tight corners and uncompromising crash barriers; the Macau Grand Prix races are considered some of the most demanding in the world. Many current or former Formula One drivers have participated in the event early in their careers and some of them have won the prestigious prize. Previous winners include Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Ralph Firman, Takuma Sato and Dan Ticktum.

History

The Macau Grand Prix was originally conceived in 1954 as a treasure hunt around the streets of the city, but shortly after, it was suggested that the hunt's course could host a racing event for local motor enthusiasts. Production car races joined the event in 1957, which were superseded by touring cars in 1972.

In 1961, the title race became an open-wheel Formula Libre event.

The race continued as an amateur race until 1966, when Belgian driver Mauro Bianchi entered the race in an Alpine A220 (chassis #1722). Alpine Renault had also sent engineer Jean-Paul Castilleux to assist Bianchi with technical aspects of the car. Bianchi's victory and exposure led to more professional racing teams entering the Grand Prix in the following years.

The motorcycle race was introduced in 1967, and in that year the first fatal tragedy struck the race: double champion Dodjie Laurel was killed when he lost control of his car and crashed. This raised the alarm for more safety improvements for the race. Teddy Yip was one of the main forces behind the Macau Grand Prix back in the 1970s and 1980s, leading this Grand Prix to be one of the world's most famous motor racing events. The Macau Grand Prix parties he hosted for many years at his home also became a central part of the social aspect of the Grand Prix. Prize money at this time was not substantial, with 1980 winner Geoff Lees receiving thirty-four dollars and 1981 winner Bob Earl receiving thirty-six.

In 1983, it was decided by the organisers that since Formula Pacific was becoming obsolete, the race would be held as a Formula Three event. Initially, they wanted to run a F2 race, but as they were unwilling to make any large circuit modifications, which included cutting down trees, the organisers decided to adopt Formula 3 cars for the feature race and it was sanctioned by FIA as the F3 World Cup title race. At the same time, Yokohama Tire was officially designated as the sole supplier of control tires for the competitors.

This decision has seen the reputation of the event in the motorsport world increase rapidly, with the event attracting the best young drivers from Europe and Japan. The first F3 race was won by a young Ayrton Senna. The race in 1990 was a memorable one, as Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen were involved in an incident when they were in first and second going into the final lap. At the main straight just after the Mandarin Oriental Bend, Häkkinen hit the back of Schumacher's car and crashed out when he attempted to overtake him. Schumacher's car was able to continue with its rear wing damaged and eventually won the race with the best aggregate time. Other notable winners include Formula One drivers David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher and Takuma Sato. Since the introduction of F3 races, the Macau GP has gradually become a stepping stone for many F3 drivers to higher class motor-racing competitions such as the FIA Formula 2 Championship and Formula One. However, only three drivers in the field in the 2010s – Valtteri Bottas in 2011, Max Verstappen in 2014, and Charles Leclerc in 2015—who have started this race have won a Formula One race, and 1995 was the last time a Macau Grand Prix winner won a Formula One race.

The event received world championship status from 2005 to 2014 as the final round of the World Touring Car Championship.

Format

The Macau Grand Prix race weekend normally starts on the Thursday and ends on the Sunday on the second or third week of November. The first two days (Thursday and Friday) are generally scheduled for practice and qualifying. All races are held on Saturday and Sunday, with the final rounds of the heavyweights Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix and the Touring Car Guia Race (the final 2 rounds of the World Touring Car Championship), as well as the FIA GT World Cup, held on the last day. Both the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix and the Guia Race are sanctioned by the FIA and the winner of the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix is awarded the FIA World Cup. Apart from the two major races held at the race weekend, the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix is also one of the highlights of the weekend since it features former or current racers of the Superbike World Championship and stars of Britain's legendary open-road motorcycle races such as the Isle of Man TT.

Newly introduced into the 2007 race Macau GT Cup is the race for GT3 category cars. Since 2015 the winner of the race is awarded the FIA GT World Cup.

Over the years, the Macau Grand Prix's Guia Race for touring cars had belonged to the '' Asian Touring Car Championship'', and the current GT Cup race was once the ''Supercar Cup'' for road going exotic sports cars., the Formula Renault race, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race, the scooter race for locals and in the past but on a less than frequent basis, a Jackie Chan endorsed race for celebrity women drivers (partnered with pro racers) involving Mitsubishis, with whom Chan hold a sponsorship deal.

Races

Macau Grand Prix (1964–present)

The title race was first held in 1954 as a sports car race. In 1961, it switched to Formula Libre regulations until 1974, when Formula Pacific became the rule. 1983 was a start of the new era with the introduction of the Formula 3, which attracted drivers from European Formula 3 championships and the Japanese Formula 3 Championship.

2019 introduced the Dallara F3 2019 machinery, with the entrants—all of them from the FIA Formula 3 Championship—using equal cars and engines for the first time.

In 2020, 2021 and 2022, the title race was run as a part of China's Formula 4 championship with exclusively local drivers and teams, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced travel restrictions on international FIA F3 drivers and teams.

For 2024, the race returned to the 1983–2018 format of Formula Regional where drivers of various European, North American, and Asian Formula Regional championships are eligible to participate.

International and national series to include the race:
* 1977–1982: Formula Pacific Championship
* 2004–2010: FIA Intercontinental Formula 3 Cup
* 2011: FIA Formula 3 International Trophy & FIA Intercontinental Formula 3 Cup
* 2012–2014: FIA Intercontinental Formula 3 Cup
* 2015: FIA Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup
* 2016–2019: FIA Formula 3 World Cup
* 2020–2022: F4 Chinese Championship
* 2023: FIA Formula 3 World Cup
* 2024: FIA Formula Regional World Cup

Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix (1967–present)

Macau is a special event for motorcycle riders. The Motorcycle Grand Prix has featured notable top-level riders, with winners of the race including MotoGP World Champion Kevin Schwantz, Superbike World Champion Carl Fogarty, notable MotoGP rider Ron Haslam and Isle of Man legends Michael Rutter, Michael Dunlop, and John McGuinness. Because of the street circuit nature, the course is closer to the legendary British open-road races than a regulation MotoGP circuit.

In 2014, the award-winning documentary Macau Gladiators by German director Andreas Knuffmann appeared. The movie is about the 2013 edition of the Motorcycle Grand Prix and followed the team of Frank Heidger and riders Didier Grams and Marc Fistette.

The 2024 Motorcycle Grand Prix was cancelled following persistent heavy rains brought about by Typhoon Toraji. Results were taken from qualifying, with Davey Todd declared the winner.

Macau Guia Race (1972–present)

The first Guia Race for touring cars was held in 1972. The event was notable in that very few touring car races were held on street circuits at the time. From 2005 to 2014, the race became the final two rounds of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. In 2015, the race changed formulae to the TCR Touring Car specifications. From 2015-16, the race was part of the TCR International Series. In 2017, it became the pentultimate Super 2000 formula race for the WTCC before returning back to TCR standards under the World Touring Car Cup banner in 2018, where it has been a TCR championship series race. From 2018 to 2019 it was the World Touring Car Championship, while in 2020 it was run for the TCR China Touring Car Championship (primarily with drivers representing China and its regions). From 2021 to 2022, it was run as a TCR Asia Series race, again for drivers representing Asia, and since 2023 it has been part of the Kumho TCR World Tour, which allows drivers from China and Asia series to participate, and also since 2025, TCR Australia Touring Car Series, which also allows drivers from Australia and New Zealand to participate.

Starting from 2008, the Macau Touring Car Cup was added in the calendar. In 2022 and 2023 it was the final round of the China Touring Car Championship, whilst in 2024 TCR China joined the field of the TCR World Tour for their finale. In 2025, it will be a joint China and TCR Australia Touring Car Series in addition to its World Tour status

*Held races (including title sponsors)
** 1972–1993: Guia Race of Macau
** 1994: Guia Race of Macau – Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship
** 1995–1999: Guia Race of Macau
** 2000: Guia Race – Asia Touring Car Series
** 2001: STDM Guia Race
** 2002–2003: SJM Guia Race
** 2004: SJM Guia Race – Worldwide Touring Car
** 2005: FIA WTCC LG – Guia Race of Macau – Presented by SJM
** 2006: FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau – Presented by SJM
** 2007: FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau
** 2008: FIA WTCC Canon – Guia Race of Macau
** 2009: FIA WTCC Marriott – Guia Race of Macau – Presented by SJM
** 2010–2012: FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau Presented by SJM
** 2013: FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau – Presented by Star River．Windsor Arch
** 2014: FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau – Presented by Suncity Group
** 2015–2016: Suncity Group Macau Guia Race 2.0T
** 2017: Suncity Group Macau Guia Race – FIA WTCC
** 2018–2019: Suncity Group Macau Guia Race – FIA WTCR
** 2020: Macau Guia Race
** 2021: Galaxy Entertainment Macau Guia Race
** 2022: Wynn Macau Guia Race – TCR Asia Challenge
** 2023: Macau Guia Race – Kumho TCR World Tour

Macau Touring Car Cup (2008–2023)

*Held races (including title sponsors)
** 2008–2013: CTM Macau Touring Car Race
** 2014–2017: CTM Macau Touring Car Cup
** 2018–2019: FOOD4U Macau Touring Car Cup
** 2020: Macau Touring Car Cup
** 2021: Melco Macau Touring Car Cup
** 2022: MGM Macau Touring Car Cup – China Touring Car Championship
** 2023: Macau Touring Car Cup – China Touring Car Championship

Macau GT Cup (2008–present)

The Macau GT Cup was added in 2008, and has been one of the most important supporting races of the Grand Prix since then.

The FIA GT World Cup is a race for GT3-spec cars, organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and the Automobile General Association Macau-China (AAMC). The event was confirmed by the FIA at the World Motor Sport Council in Geneva on 20 March 2015. The winning driver of the event is the winning driver of the Main Race, but the award for the FIA GT World Cup for Manufacturers is presented to the manufacturer supplying the cars with a manufacturer entry with the highest number of points after addition of the points of its two best cars awarded according to the result of the Main Race.

Starting in 2017, there is an age limit for drivers; drivers may be no older than 59 years 364 days, as bronze-level drivers are prohibited from participation. (Under FIA driver grading rules, any driver over 60 is a bronze driver, regardless of his accomplishments).

In 2020 to 2022, the Macau GT Cups locally organised (not by SRO as a part of FIA GT World Cup) due to the local pandemic of COVID-19. In 2023, the race organisation returned to SRO.

In 2018 the ''Greater Bay Area Lotus Cup'' was added to the GP events. This was a single make race with all competitors driving a Lotus Exige. The race was a joint promotion between Automobile General Association Macao-China (AAMC), Hong Kong Automobile Association (HKAA) and Zhuhai Motorsports Association. The drivers were from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.

Except the Macau GT Cup, the Greater Bay Area GT Cup has been on the calendar since 2019, which replaced the Greater Bay Area Lotus Cup. The race includes talented GT drivers mainly from the Greater Bay Area. In 2023, it was separated as the GT3 and GT4 Cups.
* Held races (including title sponsors)
** 2008–2010: Macau GT Cup
** 2011: Windsor Arch Macau GT Cup
** 2012–2013: City of Dreams Macau GT Cup
** 2014: Macau GT Cup
** 2015–2019: SJM Macau GT Cup – FIA GT World Cup
** 2020: Macau GT Cup
** 2021: Sands China Macau GT Cup
** 2022: Galaxy Entertainment Macau GT Cup
** 2023–2024: Macau GT Cup – FIA GT World Cup

Greater Bay Area GT Cup (2018–present)

* Held races (including title sponsors)
** 2019: Suncity Group Greater Bay Area GT Cup
** 2020: Greater Bay Area GT Cup
** 2021: MGM Greater Bay Area GT Cup
** 2022: Melco Greater Bay Area GT Cup
** 2023: Greater Bay Area GT Cup (GT3 & GT4)
** 2024: Greater Bay Area GT Cup (GT4)

Circuit

The Guia Circuit features a combination of fast straights and tight corners, with the circuit's minimum width being only seven metres. It is recognised as one of the most challenging circuits in the world. The circuit had a Grade 2 (Restricted) FIA track license in October 2023.

Major accidents

As of , there has been a total of 17 deaths from accidents at or related to the circuit; in total, nine motorcyclists, five car drivers, one spectator, official and bystander each. Eight of those are from Hong Kong.

1967: Arsenio Laurel: Killed when he lost control of his Lotus 41 and hit the corner sea wall, now called Mandarin Bend. He was trapped in his Formula car and burned.

1971: David Ma: whilst qualifying, he lost control of his Lotus 47 under braking for the Statue Corner, striking into a lamp post. Ma was killed instantly. The wrecked remains of his car was dumped at sea on its return trip.

1972: Chan Shui Fat: at the Guia Race, his Mini Cooper went out of control at more than 100 mph and left the road. Chan jumped out of the car before it crashed into a wall and burst into flames. He died from internal bleeding shortly after being admitted to hospital.

1974: Dieter Glemser: during practice for the Guia Race, he lost control of his Zakspeed Ford Escort RS 1600 when it suffered from a blowout. The car hit a sea wall, spun across the rain-soaked track and ploughed into the mostly unprotected crowd, consisting of several young spectators. One of them, an eight-year-old child, later died of his injuries and five children between six and ten received hospital treatment. The accident led Glemser, the 1971 Guia Race winner, to retire from racing months later.

1979: Tong Zheng Hui: at the ACP saloon car support race, Tong's Toyota Corolla coupe and Bobby Chung Datsun Sunny collided with each other and caught fire at Excelsior Bend, killing Tong and hospitalizing the other with serious injuries. The third driver involved, Wong Weng Kwong, was critically injured after crashing into barrier at the same place immediately before collision.

1998: At the Supercar Cup (the predecessor of GT World Cup), a Ferrari 348 caught fire due to an oil leak, this almost spread to the Ferrari of Aaron Kwok, causing him to park up and bail out. The driver parked the burning car in the pits with two firefighters trying to extinguish the fire. A Porsche 911T lost control spun out of control after hitting the oil slick, striking into two firemen and three track officials, before crashing into a barrier, destroying the car frontally. The fireman later died from his injuries.

: Frans Verschuur: during the warm-up session for the Guia touring car race, his Renault Megane suffered a brake failure as he entered Lisboa. The car ploughed into several tyre barriers before hitting a parked car and then continued on before hitting a truck, killing a pedestrian (a tourist who was not part of the event), injuring three others and while Verschuur suffered back and leg injuries. The incident led to his team, Renault Dealer Team Holland, to pull out of the race as a mark of respect.

2012: : In a WTCC-spec Chevrolet Cruze in the CTM Touring Car Cup invitational, a part failure led to the car making contact with the Turn 2 (Mandarin Oriental) wall at speeds over 200 km/h. The rescue team tried to put out the fire with the fire extinguisher. The driver was airlifted to the hospital, but died shortly afterwards.

2018: Sophia Flörsch: Suffered a spinal fracture after her Formula 3 car became airborne after contact leading into Lisboa corner, flipping over the catch fencing and striking a photographers' bunker.

Motorcycle fatalities:
* Shea Lun Tsang 1973
* Lam Sai-Kwan 1977
* Chan Wai Chi 1983
* Zoe Maximo Rosario 1993
* Tung Sai-Wing 1993
* Katsuhiro Tottori 1994
* Bruno Bonhuil 2005
* Luis Carreira 2012
* Daniel Hegarty 2017

Controversy

Retention

The society of Macau is developing rapidly. During every edition of the Grand Prix, traffic in the outer harbour area becomes severely disrupted. In 2007, politician Stanley Au Chong-kit pointed out that the Macau Grand Prix should be suspended as it wastes money and brings negative impacts to locals. Meanwhile, affairs commentator Tam Chi Keung suggested to move the Grand Prix event to Cotai. Later, in 2020, former president of the Macau SAR Sports Bureau Manuel Silverio also suggested to move the Macau Grand Prix to Cotai instead during an interview of TDM Canal. "It might be the appropriate time to use a new circuit. For instance, in Cotai, so that it can relieve a great amount of pressure for visitors and locals." This suggestion never happened as he wasn't the president of the bureau anymore.

Holding the event under COVID-19 pandemic in 2020

Due to travel restrictions, foreign racers and riders were not able to attend the 67th edition of the Grand Prix, making the event downgraded to " Greater Bay Area only". The Motorcycle Grand Prix was cancelled, and visitors to Macau were lower than expectations. However, the Macau SAR Government persisted in holding the Grand Prix using 250 million patacas which caused dissatisfaction among local people. The Macau SAR Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture and the president of the Macau Grand Prix Organising Committee (MGPOC) Ao Ieong U refused to answer questions from local media.

The Macau SAR Sports Bureau issued a press release stating that holding the Macau Grand Prix doesn't only proves that the government is confident in pandemic prevention, and also the determination to promote post-epidemic economic recovery. Holding the Macau Grand Prix could show the demonstration of Macau's anti-epidemic results to the world, restoring tourists' confidence and intention to travel to Macau, and drive the tourism, hotel and catering industries. It also hoped to promote the recovery of the construction, transportation and automobile maintenance industries through the linkage effect of the Grand Prix, thus boosting the economy, creating jobs, increasing employment for citizens, and minimising the impact of the epidemic on society and people's livelihood. The Sports Bureau believed that holding the Macau Grand Prix is meaningful to Macau, therefore hoped the society and citizens to understand and fully support the event.

Switching from F3 to FR as the Grand Prix event

In May 2024, the FIA announced that from 2024 onwards, the Macau Grand Prix would feature Formula Regional machinery, replacing the FIA F3 World Cup. The Macau Grand Prix Organising Committee (MGPOC) issued a statement regarding the change, saying that the FR cars would be more suitable for Macau and the Macau Grand Prix would continue being the only organiser of the aforementioned FIA World Cup.

F3 racers Gabriele Minì, who finished the 2023 Macau Grand Prix in third, Laurens Van Hoepen and Nikita Bedrin expressed their unimpressed opinion on the change.

Macanese Formula 4 racer Tiago Rodrigues also expressed his thoughts on the event. He pointed out that the switch would bring both positive and negative effects. For the positive, the FR World Cup would attract more and younger racers participating in the event. On the other hand, the great tradition within motorsport and Macau is lost. "In the SAR, F3 is one of the most prestigious races in the world and brings more interest than FR. We will also probably never have a car as fast as F3 racing here anymore." said Rodrigues.

Double Formula 4 Macau Grand Prix winner Charles Leong shared the same opinion as the cost of participating in Formula Regional is less than in Formula 3, and said that the FR World Cup would not be less competitive.

Moreover, André Couto, who is the winner of the 2000 Macau Grand Prix, expected that the competitiveness and level of excitement wouldn't be affected. However, he believes that changes would be brought for the prestige of the race.

During an interview after a press conference of a sporting event in Macau, the principal of the Macau SAR Sports Bureau, Pun Weng Kun stated that the Sports Bureau disagreed on views saying that the FR World Cup would lower the influence of the Macau Grand Prix and the new competition would attract more international drivers.

In contrast, the former principal of the Macau Sports Institute, Manuel Silvério, noted that the change was obviously a demotion, not only in sporting terms, but also in terms of the city’s international projection. Silvério found the decision strange as in 2023, the FIA established a 3-year agreement with the Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee, for continue organising the FIA F3 and GT World Cups at Macau. “In this situation, it is either a lack of communication or a lack of communication ability.” he pointed out. “If this agreement exists, it must be fulfilled and the changes must be agreed by both parties. Either there was a unilateral decision by the FIA, or this change was agreed by the MGPOC.” he stated.

See also

* Guia Circuit
* Grand Prix Museum, opened during the 40th Macau Grand Prix in 1993
* World Touring Car Championship

References

Notes

External links

*
FIA Formula 3 Intercontinental CupAsian Festival of Speed results

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Formula Three races
1954 establishments in Macau