Written By Lorenzo Baer & Aaron Carroll, Edited by Sean McKean
Since 1955, the month of November has been synonymous with one thing in motorsport: the Macau Grand Prix. Considered as one of the great jewels in the crown of motorsport in the East, the GP throughout its 71 years of existence , has proven to be one of the few international motorsport events that has survived the test of time almost unscathed.
DIVEBOMB now offers its readers the chance to delve a little into the history of this mythical race, also offering an insight into the 2024 edition, which will present considerable changes compared to the previous editions
The Grand Prix Race
The years of pandemic significantly impacted the progress of the Grand Prix, most notably impacting 2020 and 2022, when the race exclusively ran as a leg of the F4 China Championship.
The return of Formula 3 to the venue in 2023 could mean the race restoring its old practices, something that proved short-lived, given the new dynamics of post-pandemic motorsport.
For 2024, the Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), decided to promote the event under Formula Regional regulations, a surprising, but fair choice for the traditional event in Southeast Asia.
Having been homologated by the FIA at the end of 2017, the Formula Regional, was created with the aim of building a bridge that would bring the ‘regional’ sides of the Formula categories, such as F4, closer to the international ones, like F3 and F2.
In 2024, five different FIA-certified Formula Regional championships were being contested around the world: the Americas, European, Japanese, Middle East and Oceania tournaments.
In the trans-Pacific region scenario, both Japan (which uses Dome F111/3 chassis equipped with Alfa -Romeo engines) and New Zealand-based Oceania Championship (which uses the Tatuus FT-60 powered by Toyota power plants) have already certified the success of the category, demonstrating that the Formula Regional regulations have well adapted to the region's automotive profile.
In fact, New Zealand itself hosts the only international Grand Prix that is based on the regulations (the renowned New Zealand GP).
For Macau, the big stars will be the Tatuus F.3 T-318 chassis, equipped with a 1.,8-litre turbocharged inline-4 engine developed by Autotechnica/Alfa Romeo.
Due to the changes planned for the 2024 featured event, it is not surprising that there would also be a transformation in the face of the grid for this new phase of the Macau GP. Compared to the 2023 edition, when almost all teams attending the event were based in Europe, 2024 will feature greater diversity on the grid.
In addition to the repetition of the Theodore-Prema cooperation, the Japanese Team TOM's – who have won this race five times, and TGM Grand Prix, the Australian Evans GP and the New Zealander Kiwi Motorsport will join the ranks of the race for 2024.
Another detail is that, despite the reduction in the number of nationalities represented by the pilots (20 in 2023, 16 in 2024), the GP has never presented such a multicultural tone.
Representatives will come not only from Europe and the Americas, but also from Central Asia (China, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates), from the Trans-Pacific Region (Japan and Australia), in addition to a pilot representing Macau itself, closing in 27 drivers in total.
THE GT EVENT
Outside of the main Macau Grand Prix, the event will also feature the seventh FIA GT World Cup, the 14th GT3 event to be held at the Macau Guia circuit.
This year's GT race will feature six different manufacturers:; Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari and the new addition of Lamborghini. The entry list includes 23 drivers spread across 16 different teams throughout the six manufacturers.
Some notable names include back-to-back reigning champion Raffaele Marciello, 2022 DTM champion Sheldon van der Linde, the Vanthoor brothers Dries and Laurens, and WEC Ferrari Hypercar driver Yifei Ye, among many other big names in the world of sportscar racing.
The weekend will consist of a traditional qualifying session to set the grid for a qualifying race - 12 laps in length - which will in turn set the grid for the 16- lap race around the 6.12-kilometre, temporary street circuit.
With cloudy humid conditions expected for the weekend, it’s sure to be another thriller.
Besides the Macau Grand Prix (FIA F. Regional World Cup) and the Macau GT Cup (FIA GT World Cup), the race agenda for the 2024 edition of the event will feature other five5 categories in dispute: the Macau Race Guide (Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Event of Macau),; the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix,; the Greater Bay Area GT Cup; Macau Roadsport (Macao SAR Establishment Cup),; and the Macau Roadsport Challenge.
Thus, a great event is expected on the streets of the former Portuguese colony, as, in addition to the 71st edition of the Grand Prix and its support events, it will also be celebrated during the race weekend the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region.
Macau: Seven decades of history
The Guia circuit, home to the Macau Grand Prix for 71 years, is one of the most admired and feared tracks by drivers. The route is a combination of long straights, where vehicles can develop their top-speed, with extremely winding areas, where a correct apex can mean precious tenths of a second in the fight for positions in the narrow streets of Macau.
In 70 races to date, 57 drivers have already put their names in the history of the prestigious trophy, establishing themselves as those who confronted and overcame the challenges of the tortuous circuit of the former Portuguese colony.
Below, DIVEBOMB readers can check out some of the main curiosities about this race, which, combining tradition with modernity, manages to stay a drivers ambition till this day.
The first edition of the Macau Grand Prix took place in 1954. Disputed as a four-hour event open solely to sports cars, the race happened on the Guia Circuit, the location that serves as the venue for the event to this day. After 51 laps, Portuguese driver Eduardo Carvalho, in his Triumph TR2, became the first driver to win the GP.
Two other interesting facts marked the 1954 edition: the first was that this edition was the only one to be held in October, with the race subsequently being scheduled traditionally in the month of November. Another interesting point was that this event also saw the first significant lap record set on the Guia circuit, when Gordon ‘Dinga’ Bell, in a Morgan Plus 4, completed a lap in exactly four minutes and 12 seconds.
The most successful driver of the race to date is the Scottish-Hong Kong driver John MacDonald, with four victories from the 1965, 1972, 1973, and 1975 editions. Another interesting detail about MacDonald's achievements is that he is the only driver to have won the GP in two different ‘eras’: as a Formula Libre event, in his first three titles, and as a Formula Pacific event, in his 1975 victory.
There were many drivers who reached the highest place on the podium in Macau and who subsequently had a long and fruitful career in motorsport. Many of them even stood out in the world's most renowned category, Formula 1! Among the most famous names, we can mention a few, such as Riccardo Patrese (1977 and 1978), Ayrton Senna (1983), Michael Schumacher (1990), David Coulthard (1991), Ralf Schumacher (1995) and Takuma Sato (2001).
The track would undergo, throughout its 71 years of operation, only two major changes to its layout: at the end of 1957, the track was shortened by 115 metres, when the old Melco Hairpin (turn 19) was replaced by a new section, also with the same name. In 1993, it was the turn of the finish line and the pits to be relocated, being moved from their traditional point, before Mandarin Oriental Bend, to the straight between the ‘R’ and Reservoir Bends.
The premier Grand Prix race has been contested in several regulations though its history: for Sports Cars (1954-1960), Formula Libre (1961-1973), Formula Pacific (1974-1982), Formula 3 (1983-2019, 2023), Formula 4 (2020-2022), moving in 2024 to a new spec, Formula Regional.
In addition to the Grand Prix itself, the event has, since 1967, a multitude of support events, the most traditional of which is the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, which, in 2024, will be in its 56th edition.
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