One of the main race favorites, Finn Erno Kostamo, has justified his status and won this year’s edition of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix.
But the return of the local GP program, with this being the 54th edition of the two-wheel race, was not without difficulties. Contrary to initial plans, the Motorcycle GP held only one out of two planned races. Furthermore, this race only occurred yesterday morning when it had been planned for Saturday afternoon.
The trouble started Saturday morning when, after the pit exit lap for the grid formation, some riders, led by Sheridan Morais, protested about the conditions of the track.
According to the riders, there were a lot of oil spills on track from incidents during previous car races. The spills posed serious risks for motorcyclists because some spills were on fast corners of the track where a small loss of grip could be a serious problem.
Erno Kostamo
After two riders’ meetings held on track with the race organization, it was decided they would ride two tentative warm-up laps on yellow flags and that front-runners would decide (by raising their arm) if track conditions were acceptable for racing.
By the time riders reached Lisboa Bend on the first lap, the red flags were already waving and stopping the race.
As for Saturday afternoon’s race 2, a serious accident prevented the motorcycles from leaving the pits. The accident had occurred during the Macau GT Cup race and had caused more oil spills and damage to the barrier on Reservoir Bend, which needed overnight repairs.
After negotiation with the riders, the organizers decided to hold a a substitute for race 2 early yesterday morning.
In the race, Morais, starting from third place, began well and immediately jumped to the lead ahead of Kostamo and German racer David Datzer. But under pressure from the two, Morais was finally passed by the duo on lap 3. Kostamo and Datzer continued at a good pace until the checkered flag, although no overtaking occurred. All riders seemed happy with the positions they were holding. Morais finished third. Another rookie in Macau, Lukas Maurer, finished fourth.
