Davey Todd named winner of rain-disrupted event

The 56th edition of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix was the event most affected by the heavy rain and strong winds that struck Macau in the days leading up to the race. After several cancellations and rescheduling, the race was finally set to take place early yesterday morning (Nov. 17), instead of on Saturday afternoon as originally planned.

However, heavy rain overnight continued into yesterday morning, leading to the final cancellation of the event.

The only action on track occurred during the qualifying session on Saturday morning.

As a result, the organizers decided to award the win based on the results from Saturday’s qualifying session. This unusual decision left many confused, as, in theory, if a race is canceled or starts but does not complete enough laps, there should be no winner. However, in the official statement announcing the cancellation, it was specified that, “The podium is decided by [last] Saturday’s qualifying results. The Best Lap Award will be given to the fastest rider in qualifying.”

With that, Davey Todd (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad), who set the fastest lap during qualifying with a time of 2:25.563, was named the winner of both the race and the Best Lap Award. The rest of the podium was filled by Erno Kostamo (38 Motorsport by Penz13 Racing) in second and Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) in third. All three podium finishers were riding identical BMW M1000RR motorcycles.

Although unconventional, the results marked Todd’s first Macau Grand Prix win, after finishing second in the previous year. The Top 5 was completed by the nine-time Macau winner Michael Rutter (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad), also aboard a BMW M1000RR, and Rob Hodson (SMT Racing) on a Honda CBR1000RR-R.

Finally, a brief update on Matt Stevenson (RC Express Racing), who crashed during Saturday’s qualifying session. According to his team, Stevenson sustained a back injury, but medical staff determined that surgery was not needed. He was reported to be in stable condition and recovering at the Conde de São Januário Medical Center.