ISSUE 1 | 2018 Celebrating the Grand Prix Spirit Home & Away Preparations for this year’s Grand Prix have already thundered off the starting grid and are well on the way to ensuring a successful year, with a title sponsor and race naming sponsors confirmed for all races on the programme. Promotion of this year’s event, meanwhile, is in full swing.

MR. PUN WENG KUN, PRESIDENT OF SPORTS BUREAU OF THE MACAO SAR AND MS. GINA LEI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND DIRECTOR OF SUNCITY GROUP MARKED THE SIGNING OF THE SPONSORSHIP AGREEMENT WITH THE PRESENTATION OF A GIANT CHEQUE

he Organizing Committee (MGPOC) has packed programme are the FOOD4U Macau Touring Car Cup and the announced Suncity Group’s return as title sponsor of the 65th all-new Greater Bay Area Cup. T Macau Grand Prix, marking their fifth consecutive year as the main naming partner. The latest partnership between the Grand Prix Both at home and abroad, a wide range of promotional activities to and Suncity Group was marked with a ceremonial cheque presentation spread the word ahead of the November 15-18 Grand Prix are well at a press conference. underway. In April, the MGPOC set up a promotional booth at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai which gave visitors an Long-time supporter SJM continues its partnership with the event as opportunity to learn all about the Macau Grand Prix, with some naming sponsor of the Macau GT Cup. The 2018 SJM Macau GT Cup enthusiastic fans experiencing the in a racing simulator. marks the fourth consecutive year the race has been designated the official FIA GT World Cup. New Grand Prix partner, online food delivery FANS FLOCKED TO THE MACAU GRAND PRIX PROMOTIONAL BOOTH AT platform FOOD4U, becomes title sponsor of the long-running Macau THE FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX IN SHANGHAI Touring Car Cup for the first time. Safety, medical, rescue and official vehicles will be provided by BMW Concessionaires (Macau) Ltd for the second year.

On the enticing race programme for its 65th anniversary, the Macau Grand Prix will feature no fewer than four prestigious headline races: The Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix – FIA F3 World Cup; the SJM Macau GT Cup – FIA GT World Cup; the Suncity Group Macau Guia Race – WTCR FIA World Touring Car Cup; and the Suncity Group Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – 52nd edition. Rounding out the thrilling, action-

Macau Grand Prix Gazette ISSUE 1 | 2018 1 Through these motivational sharing sessions, students gained a better understanding of the Grand Prix as a major sporting event for Macao, including its history, the vast array of skills required, and the extensive preparatory work which is undertaken each year.

The multi-faceted promotional campaign will continue to build all the way up to November’s big event, along with a series of special events to celebrate the 65th anniversary. A Macau Grand Prix Family Carnival will take place on November 3-4, while the now-traditional Opening Ceremony and Car and Motorcycle Show is set for November 10- 11, giving visitors and residents THE MGPOC HAS HELD SEVERAL “GETTING TO KNOW THE MACAU an opportunity to check-out the GRAND PRIX” SHARING SESSIONS IN DIFFERENT SCHOOLS THIS YEAR superbikes and sportscars that will take to the Guia Circuit. A special The MGPOC has organized 65th Macau Grand Prix Celebration promotional booths at community Guia Circuit Fun Run gives residents events in various locations in the chance to run the famous street Macao, including at the Macau circuit on November 11. Women Sport Festival at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion in March, A lively social media campaign the May 1 Recreational Activities at is currently underway, the virtual Hac Sa, and at a Family Sports Day element complementing the on- in June where local participants the-ground activities. A campaign enrolled in the Macau GP Club. to collect photographs and short videos is set to begin in September. The original idea for the Grand Prix was conceived by a group The Macau Grand Prix’s storied of Macao friends and, since 1954, history plays an important role in local residents have been the its promotion. This year’s video and driving force behind what has television commercials pay tribute become a jewel in the international to Grands Prix of the past, taking motorsport crown. To encourage the viewer through the decades to involvement in the Grand Prix by as present day. Watch out for the commercial playing on a screen near you diverse a cross section of the community as possible, the Macau Grand or, if you can’t wait, check it out now on the official Macau Grand Prix Prix Committee held a number of “Meet to share the Macau Grand Prix” Facebook page. sessions this year. Speakers interacted with students at the Macao Polytechnic Institute, the Institute for Tourism Studies, the Workers’ Make sure to stay tuned for more promotions and fun as the Suncity Children High School, and Macau Saint Jose Diocese Secondary School, Group 65th Macau Grand Prix gears up for an epic, high-octane all sharing their experiences of organizing the Grand Prix. celebration this November!

THE POPULAR MACAU GRAND PRIX OPENING CEREMONY AND CAR AND MOTORCYCLE SHOW WILL RETURN ON NOVEMBER 10 AND 11 THIS YEAR

2 Macau Grand Prix Gazette ISSUE 1 | 2018 Macao Sets Ticktum on the Fast Track

ictory in the 2017 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix was only the start of an V incredible winter for Dan Ticktum in his transition from being the enfant terrible of European motorsport to one of the most feted international stars of the future.

Two weeks after Macao glory, Ticktum was named the winner of the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award and then, as a Red Bull Junior, he was placed with Motopark – the team with which he’d won Macao – for a full season in the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship.

The Macao victory came off the back of what Ticktum describes as “an average” rookie season in the Formula Renault Eurocup, his first full campaign since serving a 12-month ban from racing because of an incident in his British Formula 4 days. Not only that, but Macau was his first F3 race of 2017, and only the third of his career. “I’d had just two test days in an F3 car all year,” he says, “so the odds were definitely not stacked in my favour. But in Ticktum was a contender for most of Macao placed Ferdinand Habsburg. “Mentally it’s an Macao, it’s not like you’re driving an F3 car at week in 2017, before rising to third place in the interesting one,” he says of the Macau Grand a normal track – the skillsets are different to closing stages of the race and then benefiting Prix experience. “You want to be on the limit most European circuits. And it helped having from the last-corner simultaneous crashing in a racing car, but at Macao it’s a case of how done Macao in 2016.” of leader Sérgio Sette Câmara and second- close to that limit you’re willing to get. And I

Macau Grand Prix Gazette ISSUE 1 | 2018 3 don’t believe there’s a massive difference in Japan with Team Mugen. “That was a great And if he returns to Macao to bid for a second the cars. That’s why top drivers like it so much experience,” says Ticktum. “Experiencing Japan successive win? “I’m confident I’d be the – it separates the good from the not so good. and a quicker car was great, and managing the quickest. It’s just all those other things that tyres for a full hour-and-a-half race distance.” can happen that you can’t control!” “Qualifying was particularly unlucky – I had purple [fastest] times in the first two sectors on tyres that had already done a few laps, and then there was a red flag. I was sixth, and annoyed that I’d failed to fulfil my potential. I reset for the Qualification Race, but the team got the tyre pressures wrong so I was eighth on the grid for the final. So the pressure was pretty much off, and that relaxed me.”

The win surprised Ticktum: “I was so shocked and I didn’t know as I crossed the line, but then the whole team were cheering on the radio and going mad! Daniel Gratacos, my engineer, was over the moon.”

Then came the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, which was the icing on the cake. “Everything I was in for in the latter part of the season I won,” enthuses Ticktum, whose prize of a McLaren Formula 1 test was complicated by the fact that he is a Red Bull Junior. “It was definitely good to have that momentum going into the year,” he says, “and Derek Warwick [who chairs the Award judges] has managed to sort out the F1 test, so big thanks to him. He’s such a big supporter of me and I really appreciate that.”

As of Round 5 this year, Ticktum has won three races of the FIA F3 European Championship and sits second in the standings, just a point off the lead. “I worked out the other night that if our start procedure was better as a team I’d be about 80 points in the lead!” he laughs. “I’ve been very unlucky in certain areas, because a lot of the things that have gone wrong have been outside my control. But pace-wise we’re the strongest on the grid.”

And apart from time helping Red Bull in the F1 simulator on Grand Prix weekends, he’s also raced two rounds of Super Formula in

4 Macau Grand Prix Gazette ISSUE 1 | 2018 You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

ith the exception of the Guia street circuit layout itself, the W Macau Grand Prix today is almost unrecognisable from the 1968 running of the event. Where today signature black and yellow Armco barriers separate the race track from the walls, in the early days of the event sandbags and tyres were used as protection. One side of Reservoir Bend, for instance, was an unimpeded drop into the sea!

LEFT: ALBERT POON RECEIVING HIS WINNERS’ TROPHY IN 1964; RIGHT: ALBERT POON’S LAST RACE ON THE GUIA CIRCUIT WAS IN 2013

Unlike today, where separate races are held A pre-race favourite in 1968, Poon set off in for different categories of cars, the 1968 grid his much-loved Brabham Alfa Romeo from the was made up of a variety of automobiles, from front row of the three-abreast grid alongside full-blown racing thoroughbreds to modified the two Formula 2 cars of Japan’s Osamu road cars. Mochizuki and Osamu Masuko. After Mochizuki was shunted off the grid at what was then Amongst the drivers on the grid that day was Statue Corner, today’s Lisboa Bend, Poon former Hong Kong police officer Albert Poon. found himself leading the Grand Prix. However, While he did not win that year, four years after a coming together with a backmarker earlier he had become the first Hong Kong during which Poon’s car lost its nose cone and driver to take a Macau Grand Prix victory. – worse – use of second and third gears, he Poon had been competing in the event since dropped to second behind Masuko. The drama 1959 and, incredibly, he continued racing on was not over though. After 31 laps, Masuko was the Guia Circuit right up until 2013, when he forced to make two consecutive pit stops and competed in a race held as part of the 60th Poon regained the lead, much to the approval Macau Grand Prix celebrations. of the 55,000-strong crowd.

“Every year has been memorable,” Poon says. Sadly, a second Grand Prix victory was not to A POSTER FROM THE 1968 MACAU GRAND PRIX “When I watched the race [for the first time in be for Poon. On lap 35, his gearbox gave way 1958] I said, ‘I can do that. That’s no big brainer’, completely, forcing his retirement from the race. The 15th Macau Grand Prix, held on November and the next year I was in. Well, after having The 15th Macau Grand Prix was won by British 17 half a century ago, was notable for several raced for the first time I knew it was not what I driver Jan Bussell ahead of Indonesian Hengkie reasons: The Grand Prix race distance was cut thought it was on the outside. This was different. Iriawan and Max Brunninghausen of Australia. from 60 to 45 laps with the aim of providing I drove the first race in the absolutely stock TR2, closer racing; it marked the arrival of the first and then I learned about modification. I worked true single seater works team in the form of on the car myself – at the time there were no two Formula 2 Mitsubishi Colts; and saw a new magazines, no one teaching you about how to lap record set of two minutes 53.6 seconds. do it, so we had to do everything by ourselves.”

RESERVOIR BEND

MAX BRUNNINGHAUSEN IN HIS ALFA ROMEO TZ11

While the Grand Prix, like Macao itself, may be unrecognisable from 50 years ago, it remains the one race on earth every driver dreams of winning.

Macau Grand Prix Gazette ISSUE 1 | 2018 5 Celebrating Motorsport’s Unsung Heroes

“Volunteers are the unsung heroes of motor sport. Without them, quite simply, we would not be able to go racing. It is important for the FIA to recognise their vital contribution, and the occasion of the Volunteers Weekend shines the spotlight on their hard work and dedication to ensuring the safety and success of events the world over. This is also an opportunity to promote the positive benefits that volunteers gain from their involvement and help attract new people to motor sport.” FIA President, Jean Todt

or the first time in history, the thousands of people across the world who volunteer their time and expertise to the sport of motor racing have been officially recognised Fby the world governing body, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). The very first FIA Volunteers Weekend was held in May this year and activities were staged at a number of race tracks to complement an online campaign, all designed to celebrate the vital role played by volunteers across every discipline of the sport all over the world – including in Macao.

Macao’s very own team of volunteer marshals began preparations for this year’s Grand Prix many months ago. The pride of the Grand Prix, the volunteers might only be seen in action at home once a year, but many are regularly to be found at race tracks around the region as well as immersed in intensive training programmes in Macao. A variety of theoretical and practical training programmes are organised by the SAR’s official motorsport body, the Automobile General Association Macao-China (AAMC), on an ongoing basis. These ensure all THIS YEAR’S TRAINING OF MACAO’S OWN TEAMS OF MARSHALS AND OFFICIALS IS local volunteers – ‘old hands’ as well as newcomers – not only meet but exceed the highest FIA ALREADY WELL UNDER WAY standards of excellence.

6 Macau Grand Prix Gazette ISSUE 1 | 2018 “Without the marshals we wouldn’t have any racing. They do a fantastic job from the early hours of the morning until after racing and practice. I think we all don’t appreciate them enough so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the Macao marshals.”

Michael Rutter, eight-time Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix winner

As well as providing a vital service to the Grand Prix, the skill and dedication of Macao’s volunteer marshals is also appreciated by the competitors who take to the Guia Circuit each November. Drivers and riders rely on the marshals and track officials to keep them informed of FLAG MARSHALS PROVIDE ESSENTIAL COMMUNICATION WITH what is happening around the track, and to assist them in the case of a THE COMPETITORS racing incident.

MACAO’S UNSUNG HEROES IN ACTION

“I’ve raced in Macao every year since 2010, and it’s the best track in the world. Likewise, it’s one of the most treacherous. Almost all of the corners are “blind”, covered by the guardrails, so you really can’t see what’s happening on the exit until you’re actually there. That means we have to rely massively on the marshals to give us the proper information. It’s probably one of the hardest tracks to be a marshal at, given the limited space and the amount of incidents that do happen due to the challenging nature of the lap, but every year they do a fantastic job for us. Coming into Melco Hairpin where we’re not allowed to overtake, the marshals are there waving the yellow flags from the first lap of the weekend to the last, never once slipping up. They are an absolutely crucial part of the Macao weekend, the unsung heroes if you like, and I really appreciate the job they’re doing to keep us as safe as possible.” , two-time F3 Macau Grand Prix winner

Macau Grand Prix Gazette ISSUE 1 | 2018 7 Join us! Suncity Group 65th Macau Grand Prix 15-18/11/2018

Ticket Price Ticketing outlets MACAO Shenzhen Location Practice Days Race Days Kong Seng/Macao Ticketing Service Hong Thai Travel Services Ltd. 15 & 16/11/2018 17 & 18/11/2018 Tel: Macao: (853) 2855 5555 Tel: (86) 755 8228 8222 Hong Kong: (852) 2380 5083 China International Travel Services Grand Stand (A) MOP 550.00* Mainland: (86) 139 2691 1111 (Free Seating) USD 70.00 Co., Ltd. Website: www.macauticket.com Tel: (86) 755 8231 2912 Email: [email protected] Lisboa Stand MOP 50.00* MOP 900.00* Zhuhai (Numbered Seats) USD 6.50 USD 115.00 HONG KONG Zhuhai China Film Cinema Hong Thai Travel Services Ltd. (HuaFa Mall) Reservoir Stand MOP 350.00* Hotline: (852) 2108 8111 Tel: (86) 756 8698 882 (Free Seating) USD 45.00 Website: www.hongthai.com (86) 756 8696 333 Reservoir Stand MAINLAND CHINA Zhongshan MOP 130.00* Guangzhou (Free Seating) — USD 16.50 Culture and Art Center Cinema Holder of valid Macao student card Hong Thai Travel Services Ltd. Tel: (86) 760 8880 0088 Tel: (86) 20 8760 8833 *Same price applied for HKD and RMB as MOP

For more information regarding the Grand Prix, please visit the following website: www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo Instituto do Desporto do Governo da RAEM Sports Bureau of Macao SAR Government

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8 Macau Grand Prix Gazette ISSUE 1 | 2018