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MACAU GP

52nd MACAU GRAND PRIX - 39th MACAU Motorcycle GRAND PRIX - 2005

MICHAEL RUTTER WINS HIS SIXTH MACAU GRAND PRIX

Michael Rutter, the 32-year-old British racer stormed to a convincing sixth victory in the 39th running of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix-Hotel Fortuna this afternoon to equal the record set by Ron Haslam in 1987.

Rutter, on board the 1000cc Red Bull Honda, led the 15-lap race from start to finish and set a pace quicker than any of his rivals were prepared to go. Within four laps he had opened a lead of more than two seconds over his closest rival, John McGuinness (1000cc Stobart Honda).

By the chequered flag Rutter had stretched his advantage to 16.6 seconds over McGuinness.

Scotsman Les Shand (1000cc A.I.M. Racing Yamaha) charged through from fifth place on the opening lap to pass Welshman Ian Lougher on his 1000cc Slingshot Racing Honda on lap nine to take third spot. Lougher tried hard to stay with the hard-riding racer from Aberdeen but finished fourth, almost six seconds down at the chequered flag. Ulsterman Stephen Thompson (1000cc MSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki) was fifth home just over a second in front of American Mark Millar (1000cc Superbikelife.com Suzuki).

Another Scottish racer, Steve Allan (MSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki) was seventh over the line just two fifths of a second behind Millar to win the Supersport 600cc class, after setting a new class lap record at 2:31.625 seconds. Fellow countryman Callum Ramsay (Klaffi Honda) threw away second place in the class when he crashed on the final lap just a few yards behind Allan.

That allowed British racer Ian Hutchinson (DMR Racing Honda), who was making his debut in the event, to take tenth place overall and second position in the 600cc class just three hundredths of a second in front of Australian Cameron Donald (Klaffi Honda) who had to settle for third spot.

Six of the European competitors in the 37-strong field, including Stephane Mertens and Thomas Hinterreiter pulled out of the race at the end of the opening lap as a sign of respect for 45-year-old Frenchman Bruno Bonhuil, who suffered fatal injuries in an accident during the warm up session earlier in the day.

ARISE, LES SHAND...YOUR FUTURE IS ROSY!
(A report on Scottish rider Les Shand's spectacular 3rd place at Macau, courtesy of Phil Wain)

Despite it being only his second appearance at the 3.8mile Guia circuit, his relative lack of track experience didn’t hold him back, and having overhauled road racing legend Ian Lougher in the early stages, Scotland's Les Shand pulled clear to firmly take control of the final podium spot. It crowned a tremendous year of pure road racing for the 28-year old and, coupled with his 6th place finish in the British Superstock Championship, Les has firmly added to his racing credentials this season.

Riding the AIM Racing Yamaha R1 Superbike for the first time since Oulton Park in September, Les was soon up to speed and found himself in fifth place after the first qualifying session on Thursday. With a time of 2m34.132secs, he was just over 3 seconds adrift of pole position man Rutter, with Thomas Hinterreiter, John McGuinness and fellow Scot Callum Ramsay also ahead of him. He was hopeful of reducing his time in the second session but this would prove to be the way in which the grid would line up as Friday’s second qualifying session was delayed by earlier problems in the Touring Car session. The practice was held as an untimed session over 30 minutes so only the times from Thursday counted.

Les got cleanly away from the start and at the end of the opening lap, he was holding station in fifth place. As expected, Rutter and McGuinness were already pulling away at the head of the field but Les was getting into his rhythm and having overtaken the fast starting Guy Martin, he set about closing the gap on Ian Lougher. He latched onto the rear wheel of his Welsh rival and the duo circulated in close formation until the ninth lap when Les found a way through. Once past, he made great use of the clear track and at the end of the 15 laps he was almost six-seconds clear at the chequered flag and his fastest lap of the day, 2m30.631secs, was a tremendous effort.

Speaking after taking his first ever-International podium, a jubilant Les commented: “I’m really happy and so, so wanted that rostrum! Before the race I kept telling myself that I needed to put in 15 good laps and although the first one was a bit average, the rest went according to plan. I got my head down and once I’d managed to shake off Ian Lougher it was a smooth ride – I even had enough time to pull a big wheelie over the finish line!”

“I thoroughly enjoyed myself and there were no dramas at all. The bike didn’t let me down and I didn’t let myself down so it was simply a case of keeping it going all the way through the race. It’s a brilliant end to the year and I’d like to thank everyone that has supported me through the season. I’m looking forward to a few weeks rest before concentrating on preparations for the 2006 season and, hopefully, this result will have put me firmly in the shop window.”

FULL RESULTS

1. Michael Rutter Red Bull Honda 37min 46.205secs
2. John McGuinness Stobart Honda +16.661s
3. Les Shand A.I.M Racing Yamaha +27.748s
4. Ian Lougher Slingshot Racing Honda +33.655s
5. Stephen Thompson MSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki +45.128s
6. Mark Miller Superbikelife.com Suzuki +46.389s
7. Steve Allan MSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki +46.759 Supersport 600 class
8. Adrian Archibald A.I.M Racing Yamaha +57.220s
9. James McBride JV Racing Suzuki +1m 9.047s
10. Ian Hutchinson DMR Racing Honda +1m 9.935s Supersport 600 class
11. Cameron Donald Klaffi Honda +1m 9.971s Supersport 600 class
12. Guy Martin BTS Racing Suzuki +1m 28.201s
13. Paul Hunt Stobart Honda +2m 0.443s
14. Tiago Magalhaes Moto Marcelino Honda +2m 1.298s
15. Martin Finnegan Klaffi Honda +2m 32.813s
16. Sou Se Hong Ao's Racing Team Suzuki +1 lap
17. Joao Fernandes Macau Bikes Racing Yamaha +1 lap Supersport 600 class
18. Keith Stewart McKinstry Skip Hire Yamaha +1 lap
19. Antoni Moreira AG-Racing Aprilia +1 lap
20. Nuno Silva Portugal / Albufeira Kawasaki +1 lap
21. Jason Broome Maxed-Out Racing Yamaha +1 lap Supersport 600 class
22. Wong Man Kwong Wong Man Kwong Suzuki +1 lap
23. Leong Iok Choi Ao's Racing Team Suzuki +1 lap

DNF:
Callum Ramsay Klaffi Honda 14 laps Supersport 600 class
Steve Crevier Diablo Racing Honda 11 laps
Pete Jennings Matlock Motomax Honda 10 laps
John Haner Lees Cycle Racing Honda 8 laps
Dennis Hobbs Stobart Honda 7 laps
Jun Maeda Pirelli Allstar Aiming Honda 7 laps Supersport 600 class

DNF (Pulled out after one lap as a mark of respect to Bruno Bonhuil):
Thomas Hinterreiter Austria Racing Team Yamaha 0 laps
Marcel Kellenberger Bolliger Team Kawasaki 0 laps
Franky Heidger Betandwin de Team Suzuki 0 laps
Stephane Mertens DMR Racing Suzuki 0 laps
Pere Riba MSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki 0 laps Supersport 600 class
Karl Truchsess Austria Racing Team Yamaha 0 laps

SECOND QUALIFYING - NOT...

Michael Rutter (1000cc Red Bull Honda) will start in pole position for tomorrow’s 39th running of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – Hotel Fortuna after fading light prevented the second qualifying session from being held this afternoon. The second qualifying session was cancelled due to a number of accidents in the preceding WTCC car races, which caused the timetable to overrun. Instead, the times set in Thursday’s one-hour timed practice session will make up the grid for the 15-lap race, with Rutter aiming to make it six wins and equal the record held by fellow Brit Ron Haslam.

Rutter was quickest in the 30-minute extra practice session that replaced the qualifying period to confirm his superiority in the event, but Austrian Thomas Hinterreiter (1000cc Yamaha Austria Racing Team) slipped back to 10th fastest after qualifying second fastest. Hinterreiter is not sure that he will be able to make it to the chequered flag. He fractured a rib in a racing accident in Spain two weeks ago and though a pain-killing injection allowed him to set second fastest time yesterday, he was in pain at the end of today’s session.

John McGuinness (1000cc Stobart Honda), who starts third on the grid, improved his time slightly and is confident he can stop Rutter’s record-breaking bid. McGuinness won the race in 2001 but has finished runner up to Rutter for the past three years...but was over 1.5secs from Rutter's extra practice pace today. It's not looking good for John. AIM Racing Yamaha's Les Shand and Betandwin Team Suzuki's Franky Heidger will complete the grid top six. Ulsterman Stephen Thompson (1000ccMSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki) was fourth best today, but will start 14th on the grid.

Big surprise came from American John Haner (1000cc Lees Cycle Racing Honda), making his debut at the event, who continued to slice chunks off his lap time to end fourth best in the session with a time that would have qualified him in sixth place on the grid.

Scotsman Callum Ramsay (Klaffi Honda), winner of the Supersport 600cc race last year will start on the front row of the grid next to Rutter, Hinterreiter and McGuinness thanks to a super-fast lap on Thursday...but Ramsay could only manage 20th best time today. He faces a strong threat from fellow countryman Steve Allan (MSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki) and Spaniard Pere Riba, on another MSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki who were second and third fastest Supersport machines.

FIRST QUALIFYING

In the morning practice, John McGuinness was fastest, followed by Rutter and Ian Lougher and a couple of riders picked up punctures - expected from the early sessions as the track comes up to racing standard. It was an early start for the riders but the good news is that this year the race itself will be in the afternoon on Saturday.

 32-year-old Michael Rutter topped the first of two qualifying sessions for Saturday’s 39th running of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Hotel Fortuna after putting in a quick lap of 2:30.595 seconds in the closing stages of the first one hour session. Rutter, on board the Red Bull Honda Fireblade, (the machine that Karl Harris has been running in the British Superbike Championship this year), had been second fastest in the morning’s free practice period behind arch-rival John McGuinness (Stobart Honda) by just over a tenth of a second. The pole position swapped between Thomas Hinterreiter and Michael Rutter until Rutter chopped almost five seconds off that time with his final lap in the qualifying session late in the afternoon to head Austrian Thomas Hinterreiter (Yamaha Austria Racing Team) by almost a full second.
Hinterreiter was baulked by traffic on a circuit notorious for holding up the fast riders if they get stuck behind slower riders through the bends at the back of the circuit.

Thomas Hinterreiter on the Yamaha Austria Yamaha No.7

McGuinness was third best over 1.6 seconds slower than Rutter.

Callum Ramsay (Klaffi Honda), the 30-year-old Scot was quickest of the Supersport 600 machines in an impressive fourth place overall with a lap of 2:33.839 seconds just under two fifths of a second quicker than fellow countryman Steve Allan (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) who was seventh overall. Both of these 600's are quite a bit quicker than last year. Another Scotsman Les Shand, racing a 1000cc AIM Racing Yamaha Superbike, improved from 13th quickest in the morning to be fifth fastest in the qualifying session, but over 3.5 seconds slower than Rutter. (Les has the advantage of being helped by former World Endurance Champion Brian Morrison)

German Frankie Heidger (1000cc Betandwin.de Team Suzuki) was sixth best, just six hundredths of a second slower than Shand. Rutter, winner of five Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix in the past seven years could equal fellow Briton Ron Haslam’s tally of six victories in Saturday’s 15-lap race.

Other riders of interest include:

Expect even better times in the second hour-long qualifying session.

UPDATED ENTRY LIST

THE GUIA CIRCUIT
Length: 3.8 miles (6.2 km)
Minimum width: 22.8 feet (7 m)
Characteristics: A street circuit with an exhilarating combination of long, fast straights and sharply twisting corners. It is recognised as one of the most demanding circuits in the world.
Formula 3 Lap Record: 2:12.801 (Lewis Hamilton, 2004/Dallara Mercedes-HWA)
Motorcycle Lap Record: 2:28.233 (Michael Rutter, 2003 /998cc Ducati)
Guia Race Lap Record: 2:29.253 (Steve Soper, 1997/BMW 320i)

2005 52nd MACAU GRAND PRIX INFORMATION This year’s Macau Grand Prix will boast the best-ever race line-up in its 52 year history. The Far East Classic will be held from November 17 to 20, 2005, on Macau’s legendary Guia street circuit, and will include the FIA Intercontinental Cup of Formula 3, the final round of the all-new FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), the WTCC LG – Guia Race of Macau, and the 39th running of the ever-popular Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix-Hotel Fortuna. In addition to the three prestigious headline events, the action-packed schedule also includes a further six races for touring, saloon, junior single-seater and sports cars. As motorsport in Asia continues to develop at a rapid pace, the Macau Grand Prix has strengthened its unique position on the international racing calendar. As Mr. João Manuel Costa Antunes, Co-Ordinator of the Macau Grand Prix Committee explains: “For more than two decades, since Ayrton Senna won the Formula 3 Grand Prix in Macau, the event has been the one race every young single-seater driver dreams of winning. When it comes to deciding the best of the best in the unofficial “world cup” in the category each year, the attention of the international motorsport community – as well as the media - is firmly fixed on Macau. In addition, for the first time this year, not only will Macau host a round of one of only three official FIA World Championships, the WTCC, it will also be the final – and possibly deciding – event of the most prestigious touring car series on earth." “The Macau race programme also includes the Motorcycle Grand Prix which has become famous across the globe and is often compared to the Isle of Man TT. The mixture of cars and motorcycles on the same bill is a true rarity and adds to the broad appeal of the event.”

EXTRA...EXTRA... Tom Hinterreiter will ride the #7 of a pair of YAMAHA AUSTRIA machines. This year he will use a real Superbike, built up by our crew chief Dr. Christian Giglio. 2 New bikes were built up for this event. Last year he finished 4th with a heavy endurance bike. With #69 the former YART Rider and GP rider Karl Truchsess will try to achieve on a second YART bike his best MACAU result. He already finished 4th and 5th few years ago. BRUNO BONHUIL will be contesting the Macau motorcycle GP for TEAM PARIS  on a SUZUKI (I expect it'll be the big GSXR1000, then...) Martin Finnegan, the 2004 Irish Motorcyclist of the Year, is preparing to make his debut in the Klaffi Honda colours next month in the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – Hotel Fortuna. Finnegan, who comes from Lusk, County Dublin, as agreed a deal with the Austrian-based Klaus Klaffenbock World Superbike team for the 2006 road race season. In addition to the North-West 200, the Isle of Man TT and the Ulster Grand Prix, he will also contest a full season of Irish road racing. It has been many years since the Republic of Ireland has had a road racer to challenge the legends from the North - Robert and Joey Dunlop, and Phillip McCallen (all former Macau riders) – but all that has changed in the past couple of seasons with the rise of the “Flying Fin” as Finnegan is known. *** As it approaches its landmark 40th birthday next year, Macau’s two-wheel headline event will boast a sterling line-up of motorcycle experts from the four corners of the globe. Coming to the Far East Classic and determined to equal the legendary Ron Haslam’s record of six victories comes Macau favourite Michael Rutter on the 1000cc Red Bull Honda. A front-runner again this year in the British Superbike Championship, this will be the Briton’s 11th visit to Macau. Arch rival and fellow Briton John McGuinness, who led for much of last year’s Grand Prix and finished second to Rutter by just half a second, will be looking to grab his second Macau career victory. McGuinness is also competing in the British Superbike Championship this year, and holds the absolute lap record at the Isle of Man TT. He will be on one of a pair of 1000cc Stobart Hondas, the other ridden by another well-known Macau regular and fellow countryman, 22-year-old Stuart Easton who finished third last year. In addition to Rutter, McGuinness and Easton, the entry includes a strong British contingent in a field which boasts entries from 13 nations. Ian Lougher (1000cc Slingshot Racing Honda) making a 6th visit after missing the event last year, the British Superbike Championship’s Steve Plater (1000cc Hydrex Honda), and Stephen Thompson on a MSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki will all line up for Saturday afternoon’s 15-lap race. From the BMW Motorrad PowerCup series come Thomas Hinterreiter of Austria on a 1000cc Austria Racing Team Yamaha, and Belgian Stephane Mertens on 1000cc DMR Suzuki. Winner of the FIM 600cc Supersport Class last year on a Valmoto Triumph, 30-year-old Scotsman Callum Ramsay returns this year on a Klaffi Honda. Also entered in the Class are 2004 second and third-placed riders Cameron Donald of Australia and Chris Palmer. Fourth in the Class in his first ever ride in the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix last year, Hong Kong’s Cheung Wai On returns after an eventful year which saw him win a wildcard entry in the Malaysian round of the 125cc MotoGP. New to Macau this year is Steve Crevier of Canada on a 1000cc Diablo Racing Honda. Crevier boasts the most race wins in Canadian history, and was runner up in the 2003 Canadian National Superbike Championship. Also making their debuts on the daunting Guia Circuit will be: Briton Guy Martin on a BTS Racing Suzuki; Pere Riba of Spain on one of a pair of MSS Discovery Racing Kawasaki’s in the 600cc Supersport Class, the other of which will be ridden by Scot Steve Allan; and Keith Stewart on a McKinstry Skip Hire Racing Yamaha. From Portugal come three Guia Circuit rookies; Tiago Magalhaes on a Moto Marcelino Honda; Nuno Silva aboard the Kawasaki Portugal/Albufeira entry; and Antonio Moreira on the AG-Racing Aprilia. Joao Fernandes, now living and working in Macau, will be competing for the 6th time, this year on a 600cc Macau Bikes Racing Team Yamaha. Another rider making his debut this year will be Jason Broome. Although racing as a Hong Kong rider, Broome actually lives and works in Macau. Heading the list of Macau entries is Sou Se Hong on a 1000cc Suzuki entered by a home-grown outfit, Ao’s Racing Team owned by local touring car ace Ao Chi Hong. Sou’s team mate will be Leong Lok Choi, also on a Suzuki, while Wong Man Kwong will be on a privately-entered 750cc Suzuki. And keeping the Grand Prix crowds up-to-date on the action this year for the first time ever will be former Macau competitor and World Championship rider, Steve Parrish. Parrish became a professional rider in 1976, joining Barry Sheen in the Suzuki Grand Prix team in 1977 and finishing fifth in the 500cc World Championship. In 1978, he won the British GT Championship, before claiming the British Superbike Championship in 1981. In Macau, he finished 2nd on no fewer than three occasions – in 1978, 79 and 80. He retired from motorcycle racing in 1986, but has spent the last 13 years truck racing, earning five European titles. Having finally retired from all kinds of competitive racing, he has been concentrating on his commentary role. Tickets for the Macau Grand Prix are on sale now, and may be purchased from the Macau Grand Prix Committee at email: macaugp@cgpm.gov.mo Price details can be found on the official website at www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo  and tickets range from US$19 to US$88 for race day seats. Two-day race ticket packages are available, as are concessions for students

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