Briton Peter Hickman won the 52nd Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix race on Saturday afternoon.
Starting from pole position, Hickman saw his teammate and Macau’s most successful motorcycle racer, Michael Rutter, take the lead with a brilliant start. However, Hickman did not let Rutter get away and pursued him until the fourth lap when, on the braking into Lisboa, Hickman took the lead and did not let it go.
Controlling the race pace, Hickman saw Rutter reducing the gap between the front-runners in the following laps but he was always in control of the situation.
Further back, the battle for third and fourth position was the most interesting one to follow, with Martin Jessopp, Danny Webb and Gary Johnson fighting for the best possible position. In the end, it was Jessopp in the Ducati who climbed once more to the lower step of the podium in Macau.
The fourth position was occupied by Webb who had an impressive performance throughout the weekend and was always a contender for the top positions. The best result from Webb was last year’s 10th position.
With three laps to go, an accident at the Fishermen’s bend involving two riders eventually led the race to a stop and early finish as organizers decided for a non-restart.
The incident involved Bimota’s Ben Wylie and Handtrans JCR Racing Phillip Crowe. According to information made available by the Grand Prix Organizing Committee, Crowe was unharmed and did not need any medical assistance. As for Wylie, he was transported to the hospital where he is under medical observation, with the organizing committee noting that he was conscious, and his medical status was stable and not in a life-threatening condition.
After the race, Hickman said, “On the third lap I thought, I’ll get my head down a bit and see if I can break in just a little bit, get a little bit of a gap and see if I can manage it, which was basically what I did. After half distance, I thought I’ll get my head back down again and did a low 24, which pulled the gap back out again. It’s fantastic for me. For Aspire-Ho and Bathams, a win here is absolutely brilliant.”
As for the first runner-up, Rutter said, “The bike went off the line absolutely perfectly and I just got in front of Pete [Hickman] into turn 1. I thought, this is not right, it’s not happening! I just got my head down. When he came flying past and I thought I’d stay on the back of him but he pulled so much on me in just one lap, I thought this is just embarrassing, I’ll have to get my head down,” he said. “I started matching him and I felt comfortable. I could see a bit of wear on his Dunlop’s rear [tire] and I thought, that’s not going to last, but he seemed to be keeping the same pace. To be fair to Pete, he was on rails!”
Taking his sixth podium in 10 participations, Jessopp noted, “I didn’t really panic about the start though. We were all in one group, and I thought it’s not a problem if you can pick off a few guys. But I’m so new to the bike. I’ve been on the same bike for six years and never won, so why not try something different? I’ve been riding the bike around here for a couple of days with a lot of respect for the bike and for the circuit, and I’ve not tried to rush anything. It was always going to be difficult against the competition I’m sat next to. As crazy as it sounds, I’d love another race tomorrow!”
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