New book explores evolution of karting in Macau

As Macau celebrates 60 years of karting, a new book captures the sport’s rich history in the territory.

“History of Karting in Macau,” published by Praiagrande Edições and sponsored by Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG), was launched yesterday at an event featuring the book’s authors and renowned car racers.

The book, written by Carlos Barreto and Pedro Dá Mesquita, aims to promote Macau’s racing culture and reinforce local sports development.

“We intend to tell the story of karting in Macau from its humble beginnings to nowadays, and knowing that in the last three decades the development of karting has been tremendous in terms of infrastructure, technology, safety and communication,” said Barreto.

This trilingual edition (Chinese, Portuguese, and English) is the result of research that began in 2008 of “old documents, stories and pictures” collected among drivers and sports officials, “from (the sports) humble origins to the present day, through decades of tremendous changes in infrastructure, technology, security and communications.”

Co-author Pedro da Mesquita expressed his enthusiasm for the project, saying, “When Carlos Barreto invited me to write a book about Macau’s karting history, I didn’t have any idea about it. And I really was impressed.”

“It was a surprise after surprise. And I wanted to share it with you because it’s really interesting. What I hope, sincerely, is the joy that I have had in writing it, and the revelation of a lot of stories that nobody knows, will continue when you read it,” he added.

The first kart race in Macau took place in 1965.

Over the years, the territory’s karting circuit has hosted important names in the sport, such as current three-time Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen, while local drivers such as André Couto and Charles Leong Hong Chio, winners of the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix in 2000 and the Formula 4 Macau Grand Prix in 2020 and 2021 respectively, have also started successful careers in motorsport here.

Meanwhile, the event also featured a sharing session with the authors and renowned car racers.

The “History of Karting in Macau” will be available for sale at the Portuguese Bookshop and other outlets, including the Grand Prix Museum store.

The book has 276 pages, 33 of which contain images illustrating the evolution of the sport in Macau over the last 60 years. Victoria Chan