SUPPLEMENT TUE 14.11.2017

RETURNS TO GUIA RETURNS TO GUIA Renato Marques

HE FIA World Tou- ring Car Cham- pionship (WTCC) is retuning to the twis- Tty turns and wide-open strai- ght roads of the in , two years since the series was replaced by the TCR racing series. Though the WTCC has now returned back to Guia, the se- ries has not developed much in the past two years, with several manufacturers aban- doning the series (at least as factory teams) and others paying little attention to ma- jor developments due to scar- city of competition and other reasons. After two years away, the WTCC promises to return to Macau to “restore the famous Thed Björk Guia Race to its former glo- ry,” although it seems there is not much glory left in the se- PREVIEW ries itself, and it only gained a new life with the introduc- tion of the new Volvo Poles- tar team that has “put a little WTCC returns to Guia after 2 years of absence salt on a barely warm soup.” Previously hosting the lona on September 6, where Similar to the Japanese rou- maximum of 120 points up cky place to race and small “Grand Finale” and the clo- he was leading the cham- nd of the WTCC, the team has for grabs, Michelisz trails Po- mistakes can result in big sing event of the WTCC sea- pionship at the time. already announced that Mon- lestar ’s Björk by damage, which means that son, Macau will now hold the Monteiro had to be extrac- teiro will be replaced by Ar- 16.5 points and Catsburg is anything is possible and the penultimate weekend of the ted from the car, and after gentinian race driver Esteban just 2.5 points behind Miche- races are expected to be con- campaign, which will close observation by several spe- Guerrieri. lisz. tested to the last tenth of se- in the hot sands of Qatar in a cialists in the hospital, he Monteiro has lost the cham- Theoretically speaking, the cond. race under the moonlight. was advised to skip the Chi- pionship lead, due to not ra- chances of winning the cham- Another point of interest in Interestingly enough, the na and Japan rounds until he cing because of his injury, pionship are still wide-open the return of the WTCC se- Championship this year had achieves full recovery. and fell to the fourth posi- and possible for the first nine ries is the possibility of well- an unexpected twist when Although he has accepted tion behind new leader Thed classified, although success known racer Rob Huff possi- Portugal’s Tiago Monteiro the physicians’ recommen- Björk from Volvo, is more likely for the first bly extending his own record from the Castrol Honda Wor- dations and started his re- teammate Norbert Michelisz six, adding and of wins in Macau to nine. ld Touring Car Team suffered covery, Monteiro has been and Volvo’s . , respectively, Huff will be driving a Ci- a high speed accident during ruled out of the Macau round With four races left (2 in Ma- to the list behind Monteiro. troën C-Elysée from ALL- a routine test run in Barce- as well. cau and 2 in Qatar) and a Macau itself can be a tri- INKL.COM Münnich Motors-

PREVIEW CTM Cup and Chinese Racing Cup add local and regional DNA

Renato Marques

ESIDES the four main races in the

B MARQUES RENATO 64th , local and regional dri- vers will have other opportunities to show- case their skills on the 6.2km-long Guia Circuit. The CTM Macau Touring Car Cup is one such race, and the majority of the racers are indeed from Macau and HK. For them, this is the final step of a racing season that started in early spring, with seve- ral rounds of the compe- Billy Lo - 2.0T - 1.6T Alexander Fung - 1.6T tition to select the year’s best competitors for a two previous competi- cifications, ranging be- led some Grand Prix re- To minimize such po- lected for the final race. final race as a prize for tions – the Macau Tou- tween 1.6- and 2.0-liter gulars to pull out from tential issues, the orga- In a racing season that their efforts. ring Car Cup and Macau turbocharged engines. this year’s competition. nizing committee has featured four races in two This year’s Touring Car Road Sport Challenge – Despite including both Some drivers even cited established a system in weekend events, the entry Cup, previously known into a single race local and regional ra- fears of problems that which the qualifying ses- lists for both groups have for featuring small cars of : the CTM Macau Tou- cers, the CTM Macau might occur on the track, sions of both categories already been narrowed similar competitive abi- ring Car Cup. It will in- Touring Car Cup has due to the greater number will be held separately, down to 25 per group, lity, will undergo a shift. clude a combination of not been well received of cars and differences in with the best 18 racers who will go out to the It will shorten and merge cars with different spe- by drivers, and has even vehicle performance. in each group being se- Guia track starting No- II tue 14.11.2017

Tom Coronel Esteban Guerrieri

Robert Huff Tom Chilton PREVIEW WTCC returns to Guia after 2 years of absence port. Souza. However, due to the Another Macau expert that regulations that prevent dri- will be returning to the WTCC vers from taking part in two field is veteran racer Tom Co- different events during the ronel, who is definitely able Macau Grand Prix weekend, to put his track experien- de Souza’s focus for 2017 is ce to use and attain a good the CTM Macau Touring Car result on the . Cup. Participating out of the cham- As for Hong Kong, Po Wah pionship results will be a few Wong and Clerebold Chan local racers. Macau’s Mak Ka will be aboard two Lok is one of them and he will Cruzes and will be the repre- be driving a third Lada Vesta sentatives of Hong Kong in from RC , an entry this race. They will both be that was initially supposed to racing under be used by Macau’s Filipe de Team colors.

PREVIEW CTM Cup and Chinese Racing Cup add local and regional DNA Chinese Cup ‘evolves’ OMPLETING the program for der to pick a winner this year, though Cthe Macau Grand Prix is the Chine- last year’s winner David Zhu and last se Racing Cup, a standalone race and year’s second runner-up Jason Zhang former one-brand series that aims to are in good positions – both are cer- bring together drivers from mainland tainly skilled and experienced enough China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan – to attack the podium. Also in the mix in a “Greater China Racing Com- are Hélder Assunção and Deng Bao petition,” as it was initially known. Wei, other strong performers from last This competition has adopted the TCR year. (Touring Car Series) specifications for Notably, some very experienced dri- this edition, allowing the inclusion vers will participate this year – inclu- of several new Volkswagen Golf GTI, ding Hong Kong’s Kenneth Lau, Ken- RS3 LMS and one Seat Leon, neth Look, Sunny Wong and Michael along with the Baic Senova D50 cars. Choi – which will make this race much This is a significant evolution from the more interesting. previously used Senova D70. The race has also abandoned the idea of a “Chinese-only” competition, instead opting for a more diverse list that includes in total 36 drivers. One is Alexander Fung - 1.6T Paul Poon - 1.6T from South Korea, a first for the race. Another big difference is that this vember 16. along with Samson Fung favorite, heading a group race, unlike before, is now part of a As for the favorites to (Peugeot RCZ), Leong Chi that also includes Leong championship that is held across four win, last year’s podium fi- Kin and Célio Dias, both Ian Veng and Yam Chi rounds and seven races. The Macau nishers in the 1.6T group driving the Mini Cooper Yuen, as well as last year’s race is only the second event of the ra- Paul Poon (Peugeot RCZ), S. second runner-up Ng Kin cing program and not a “Season Fina- Filipe de Souza (Chevro- As for the 2.0T cars, Veng. Except for Lo, all le” as in previous editions. let Cruze) and Alexan- last year’s winner Billy team members are dri- Due to these changes, it may be har- der Fung (Peugeot RCZ) Lo (Mitsubishi Lancer ving the Mitsubishi Lan- are definitely in the mix, Evolution 7) remains the cer Evolution 9. III tue 14.11.2017

Renato Marques Q&A GLENN IRWIN ICKNAMED “Turbo Rab- MOTORCYCLE RIDER Nbit,” Glenn Irwin was a rela- tively unknown until his Macau debut last year, when he fought for a spot on the Macau Grand ‘I feel like I can win the race’ Prix podium after clocking third quickest in the qualifying ses- sion. The rider – who hails from Car- rickfergus in Northern Ireland – stunned competitors and au- dience members alike when he took his Ducati to seventh place in the first qualifying session. He performed even better in the next session to secure a front-row start in his first appearance at the Guia Circuit, right behind eight-time Macau winner Michael Rutter. Irwin had a solid first season in the British Superbike Cham- pionship (BSB), securing his po- dium debut at the Thruxton race, and another one in the deciding race at . To learn more about Irwin’s ex- perience and unexpected perfor- Glenn Irwin (GI) - It was so GI -The racetrack is very, very can win the race. good as ever and [Martin] Jes- mance at last year’s Macau race, weird. Usually in that situation, it fun; very unique. The atmos- sop is still chasing the first win. as well as what we can expect would be very disappointing, but phere is also really good, and the MDT - How do you per- It won’t be easy, that’s for sure. from him this time, the Times with it being such a dangerous fans are cool and make a lot of ceive the competition this spoke to him ahead of the Macau race (due to the electrical failure noise from the grandstand! year? Will MDT – What is the most Grand Prix. of his motorcycle) it was also a (Hicky) be the man to beat challenging factor of the relief I was coming home safe. MDT - You are returning once more? Macau race? Macau Daily Times (MDT) this year with added expe- GI - For sure, Hicky has the tar- GI - For me, it’s definitely the - How did you feel about MDT - After that first expe- rience. What are you aiming get on his back. He has been the heat and humidity. I can say that being so close to a podium rience, what are your thou- for? main man for the last two sea- my favorite place is the hotel finish in your debut year in ghts about the racetrack GI - It’s hard to predict until we sons now. [Michael] Rutter will because of the air-conditioning Macau? and race atmosphere? get some practice, but I feel like I [also] be there as he is riding as [laughs].

ad NOVEMBER 16 - 19

16th of November (Thursday) 17th of November (Friday)

06:00 Circuit Closed 06:00 Circuit Closed 06:30 - 07:00 Circuit Inspection 06:30 - 07:00 Circuit Inspection 07:30 - 08:30 Suncity Group Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix - 51 st 07:30 - 08:15 Suncity Group Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix - 51 st Edition Edition - Practice - Qualifying 08:50 - 09:20 Suncity Group Chinese Racing Cup - Practice 08:25 - 08:55 Suncity Group Chinese Racing Cup - Qualifying 09:35 - 10:15 Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix - FIA F3 09:15 - 10:00 Suncity Group Macau Guia Race - FIA WTCC - Free - Free Practice 1 Practice 2 10:35 - 11:05 CTM Macau Touring Car Cup 1600cc Turbo - Practice 10:15 - 10:40 CTM Macau Touring Car Cup 1600cc Turbo - Qualifying 11:20 - 11:50 SJM Macau GT Cup - FIA GT World Cup - Free 11:00 - 11:30 SJM Macau GT Cup - FIA GT World Cup - Free Practice 2 Practice 1 11:45 - 12:25 Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix - FIA F3 World 12:25 - 12:55 CTM Macau Touring Car Cup over 1950cc - Practice Cup - Free Practice 2 13:10 - 13:55 Suncity Group Macau Guia Race - FIA WTCC - Free 12:40 - 13:05 CTM Macau Touring Car Cup over 1950cc - Qualifying Practice 1 13:25 - 14:40 Suncity Group Macau Guia Race - FIA WTCC - Qualifying 14:10 - 14:50 Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix - FIA F3 14:50 - 15:10 Suncity Group Macau Guia Race - FIA WTCC - MAC 3 World Cup – Qualifying 1 15:25 - 16:05 Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix - FIA F3 World 15:40 - 16:25 Suncity Group Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix - 51 st Cup – Qualifying 2 Edition - Qualifying 16:25 - 16:55 SJM Macau GT Cup - FIA GT World Cup – Qualifying 18:00 - 18:00 Circuit Opened 18:30 - 18:30 Circuit Opened

18thof November (Saturday) 19th of November (Sunday)

06:00 Circuit Closed 06:00 Circuit Closed 06:30 - 07:00 Circuit Inspection 06:30 - 07:00 Circuit Inspection 07:30 - 08:30 Safety, Rescue and Extrication Cars - Testing laps 07:00 - 07:50 Safety, Rescue and Extrication Cars - Testing laps 09:00 - 10:00 Suncity Group Chinese Racing Cup - 10 laps 08:00 - 08:30 Special Event 10:20 - 11:10 Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix - FIA F3 09:00 - 10:00 CTM Macau Touring Car Cup 1600cc Turbo and over World Cup - Qualification Race - 10 laps 1950cc - 12 laps 11:30 - 11:50 Suncity Group Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix - 51 st 10:40 - 11:40 Suncity Group Macau Guia Race - FIA WTCC - Main Edition - Warm Up Race - 11 laps 12:25 - 13:30 SJM Macau GT Cup - FIA GT World Cup - Qualification 12:10 - 13:40 SJM Macau GT Cup - FIA GT World Cup - 18 laps Race - 12 laps 15:10 - 15:20 Lion Dance 14:10 - 15:10 Suncity Group Macau Guia Race - FIA WTCC - 15:30 - 16:30 Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix - FIA F3 Opening Race - 8 laps World Cup - 15 laps 15:40 - 16:40 Suncity Group Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix - 51 st 18:00 - 18:00 Circuit Opened Edition - 12 laps 18:00 - 18:00 Circuit Opened

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