Windsor Arch 55th Macau Grand Prix Information

As the countdown to the Grand Prix begins, keep track of the drivers and riders who could be Macau-bound in November! Windsor Arch 55th Macau Grand Prix Information

Dates: November 13-16, 2008 Tickets: www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo

Dates for the 56th Macau Grand Prix have been announced, and the event will be held from November 19-22, 2009

With Nico Hülkenberg having wrapped up the F3 Euro Series championship, the race is on for which driver will emerge in second. Edoardo Mortara (Signature Plus), Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix) and Mika Mäki (Mücke Motorsport) are within nine points of each, with just two rounds remaining at Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. In the first of two races at LeMans, Bianchi won his first F3 Euro Series race over Great Britain’s Sam Bird (Manor Motorsport) and Mäki.

Bird has scored his best finishes of the season with two secondplace results, first during the series’ stop at Barcelona and followed by LeMans two weeks later. Bird, who finished sixth in the 2007 F3 Macau Grand Prix, is currently 11th in his first year of the Euro Series.

1 Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix 72

2 Edoardo Mortara Signature-Plus 49

3 Jules Bianchi ART Grand Prix 42

4 Mika Mäki Mücke Motorsport 40

5 v.d. Zande Prema Powerteam 37

Sam Bird

1 Oliver Turvey Carlin Motorsport 222

2 Jaime Alguersuari Carlin Motorsport 210

3 Brendon Hartley Carlin Motorsport 192

4 Sergio Perez T-Sport 183

5 Atte Mustonen Raikkonen Robertson Racing 134

As Carlin Mortorsport’s Oliver Turvey, Jaime Alguersuari and Brendon Hartley battle for the British Formula 3 title – 30 points separate first and third place – and with 42 points on offer during the final two rounds and Donington Park, it is sure to be an exciting finish. Of the three, just Hartley has had experience at Macau as the 18-year old finished 12th in last year’s Grand Prix. The New Zealander received his invitation to last year’s Grand Prix after he made a surprise fourthplace finish at the F3 Masters at Zolder. Though he was still a newcomer to F3, Hartley said he was disappointed with his results at Macau.

However, there is no doubt his experience of the Guia Circuit will give the New Zealander an advantage this year. As well as contesting the British series, Hartley has also

taken part in some Euro Series races, and at the recent rounds at Le Mans he finished seventh in the first race.

While Dutchman Carlo van Dam has clinched the 2008 Japanese Formula 3 championship by more than 100 points, the race for second and third was much closer, with just three points separating Keisuke Kunimoto and Takuto Iguchi.

Though 20 -year- old Iguchi got off to a faster start with three straight wins, Kunimoto, 19, was more consistent in the second half of the season. They remained competitive, finishing with a second and third place apiece in the final two races of the season.

1 Carlo van Dam Tom’s 322

2 Keisuke Kunimoto Tom’s 219

3 Takuto Iguchi Tom’s 216

4 Hironobu Yasuda ThreeBond 152

5 Naoki Yamamoto Honda 138

Oliver Turvey

Brendon Hartley

Carlo Van Dam Keisuke Kunimoto

1 Frédéric Vervisch Swiss RacingTeam 120

2 Sebastian Saavedra HS Technik Motorsport 83

3 Johnny Cecotto HS Technik Motorsport 82

4 Matteo Chinosi Ombra Racing 73

5 Laurens Vanthoor Van Amersfoort Racing 72

FIA World Touring Car Championship

With two 1-2 finishes in Monza, SEAT Sport drivers have claimed a serious stake on both the World titles. The retirements of Chevrolet's Robert Huff and BMW's Andy Priaulx, the only two serious competitors left, the Drivers' Championship fight looks restricted to Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini, who shared victory in Monza.

With just two races to go before the field arrives in Macau, Muller leads the Championship by nine points from Tarquini. Huff lies in third while threetime FIA WTCC Champion Priaulx is fifth. Muller took the first win in Monza from team mate Tarquini. Rickard Rydell finished behind them in third, although was later handed a penalty and  dropped down to 17th. Priaulx was awarded third place.

From the rolling start, Félix Porteiro made contact with James Thompson, sending the N.technology Honda driver spinning across the track. He collected third position driver Jordi Gené, Alain Menu, Robert Huff, Pierre-Yves Corthals and Stefano D'Aste.

Gené, Huff and Corthals escaped relatively cleanly as they slotted back into the race, but Menu fell back to the bottom of the field. D'Aste rejoined after a long pit stop and Porteiro was unable to continue, though he managed to get his damaged car back to the pits for the mechanics to fix for race 2. Thompson was also out of the race, as his car was left stranded in the middle of the racetrack.

Muller led the race at this point from Tarquini, but further back things were getting interesting. Huff fought with and overtook Alessandro Zanardi over the finish line as the cars completed the first lap, demonstrating the speed potential of the Chevrolet Lacetti. His team mate Nicola Larini, who had a great start getting up to fourth, was being chased by the BMWs of Farfus and Priaulx.

Larini finished sixth following an incident with Rydell in the final lap of the race. He tried to pass the SEAT driver, made contact and forced Rydell to cut the chicane. Rydell slowed down to abide by regulations, but Larini suffered damage and began to fall back, finishing just ahead of his team mate.

Having finished second in the first race Tarquini helped his Championship chances with a win in the second race. He came up from seventh on the grid with a great start to challenge the leaders on the first lap. However, after cutting the first chicane after the start and failing to give back the advantage, a penalty of five grid positions for the first race in Okayama has been imposed on Tarquini.

BMW Team Italy-Spain driver Zanardi started from pole, and although he got away well, he was immediately challenged by an advancing Gené. Gené got past him on the first lap and scampered away as Zanardi was swallowed up by the chasing pack.

Tarquini, Larini and Muller overtook him all in one go as the polesitter eventually fell down to seventh position. Tarquini went after leader Gené, and finally overtook him with a couple of laps to go. Huff began the race in third but by the end of the first lap had slipped back.

He overtook the struggling Priaulx, but then began to fall back. He did manage a small recovery, only to tangle with Farfus and end up on the grass. Following this Huff slowed and limped back to the pits; it has been a bad weekend for him.

Priaulx was also forced to end his race in the pits after he went straight at the first chicane in an attempt to overtake Muller. Larini took the final podium place as he

escaped the problems he suffered in the first race. By the end he was even able to find the pace to challenge the leaders. Muller came up from eighth position to take fourth and Alain Menu overcame the problems from the last race to finish in fifth position.

1 Yvan Muller 95

2 Gabriele Tarquini 86

3 Robert Huff 64

4 Richard Rydell 62

5 Andy Priaulx 61

6 Jordi Gené 53

7 Jörg Müller 52

8 Félix Porteiro 50

9 Nicola Larini 48

10 Augusto Farfus 47

1 SEAT 277

2 BMW 223

3 Chevrolet 197

4 Honda 46

Conor Cummins, who finished fifth in last year’s race, tested the AIM Yamaha Superbike at Croft in early September as the team continued preparations for Macau. After last year’s result, the 22-year old from the Isle of Man is considered one of the riders to watch in the 42nd running of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Making his Macau debut is 20-year old Dan Linfoot of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire who is not only coming to Macau for the first time, but will compete in this first "real" road race here.

Linfoot, racing in the European Superstock 600 Championship, said he already had tremendous respect for the famous circuit andwhile he expected to be competitive, Linfoot said his main goal was to gain as much experience as possible and enjoy racing along the roads of Macau.

Windsor Arch Macau GT Cup Macau native and Asia Super- Car Challenge (ASCC) 2008 champion Rodolfo Avila will race a Ferrari 430 GT in the new Windsor Arch Macau GT Cup.

Avila has been racing single seaters at the Macau Grand Prix since 2002 and this year will be his first in a GT. The 21-year old described the 36-car line up for the

Macau race as a dream car grid. Avila raced a Ferrari in the ASCC championship, but with the most important race of the year at Macau, Avila and his sponsors decided to change cars in order to be as competitive as possible for their home race.

Before making his ninth visit to the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, Macau resident Joao Fernandes continued his preparations with races at the neighbouring Zhuhai International Circuit.

Fernandes, whose best finish at Macau was fourth overall in the Supersport Class in 2005, said that the aim of the Zhuhai race was to prepare for the big race on the Guia Circuit, and he qualified third with his Hong Kong team.

After a difficult first day, Fernandes was able to take a podium finish in the Superbike class. However, the next day, he was in a high-speed crash at Turn 7, breaking his

hand and bruising several ribs. Fernandes will now have to rest for about a month before getting back on the bike and, as a result, will not race in any further World Endurance Championship rounds in order to recover in time for the Macau Grand Prix.

In June, Fernandes won two races at Zhuhai as part of the China Superbike Championship.

- Nikki Kemp, Hong Kong -