Organizers preparing for ‘back to normal’ Macau GP

The Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee (MGPOC) is preparing for the return of the local Grand Prix (GP) this year to past glories, with the presence of international racers, as confirmed to the Times by regular racers.

The competitors, who requested anonymity, acknowledged that last week they received formal invitations from the MGPOC to participate in this year’s race. These invitations are mostly for the Motorcycle GP which has been put on hold for the last two years due to the restrictions on the entry of foreign nationals in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control measures.

“It’s true. We got the invitation from the Macau organizers. But at this point we are not yet taking this too seriously,” one of the racers told the Times, adding that in the two previous years the same invitation had also been extended, but the conditions imposed at the last minute prevented the racing event to take place.

From the racers’ point of view, opinion seems to be unanimous, that they wish to return to Macau and resume the long-running racing event, “as long as [Covid-19] quarantine restrictions are dropped.”

According to the information provided to the Times, the invitation extended to the racers in previous years required an almost one-month quarantine period in medical observation upon arrival in Macau, a condition that most of the racers and teams rejected.

Late last month, Pun Weng Kun, president of Sports Bureau (ID) hinted that the possibility of international entrants appearing in the local GP in November is still unknown.

Pun was asked by the Times how confident he was about seeing international drivers. He only highlighted that over the last two and a half years, foreign drivers have wanted to race in Macau, whether it was touring cars or motorbike races. However, he said, work must be done pragmatically.

“I can’t stress enough that over these couple of years, we have spent more time than ever in planning contingencies,” the sports chief said.

The Motorcycle GP event has been in the main program of the GP since 1967 and completed its 53rd edition back in 2019, won by British rider Michael Rutter with just one lap raced after two incidents, leading to the early interruption of the event. 

With this win, Rutter became a nine-time winner of the Macau race.

Pole man and three-time race winner Peter Hickman, from the U.K., was declared second in the same race while the third place was won by Australia’s David Johnson.