Preview | The most ‘local’ of all GP races

Jeronimo Badaraco

Though out of the spotlight it once was in, year after year the Macau Touring Car Cup continues to be the most local of all Grand Prix (GP) racing events.

Believe it or not, for local fans this is still one of the most anticipated races. Maybe not exactly because of its magnificence, but for the fact that a large majority of its participants are Macau and Hong Kong amateur racers, people that you know from your daily life, faces that you see in the office or in public service.

This is the race of local and regional champions; amateur drivers that race above all, for the passion to participate in the event, as some have been doing for several decades already.

For these racers, this is their only chance to share the 6.2 kilometer Guia Circuit with some of their idols, or at least prominent figures in the sport.
To reach this moment in the season, they had to first pass selection in early spring. It takes several rounds of competition to select the year’s best competitors for a final race as an award for their effort.

Similar to what was enforced in last year’s edition of the GP, this race will feature cars in two different categories, bringing together racing cars with two different specifications, the 1.6 and 2.0-liter turbocharged engines.

This year, and contrary to what happened on the trial run of this competition, the event has been completely merged into only one event, with both the race and the qualifying and practice sessions to include all the cars listed in this category.

Leong Ian Veng

To recall, last year, the two different car specifications were only merged in the actual race, while qualifying and practice sessions were done separately.

For this year’s entry list, the 36 pre-qualified drivers will have the chance to fight for the laurels of champion.

As for the favorites to win the finals — and like in the last event — this race has a record of being affected by mishaps that often lead to interruptions or even a shortening of the race – like last year, when it rained. The race began behind the safety car for the first three laps and was shortened, finishing four laps later when a multi-car incident occurred at the Dona Maria bend which brought out the red flags and the winners were announced early.

Last year’s winners are back again this year. Among the most notorious names are Macau driver Leong Ian Veng in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 and Japan’s Mitsuhiro Kinoshita in a Nissan GTR R34.

For the smaller engine capacity category, local Jeronimo Badaraco will be in a Chevrolet Cruze and Hong Kong’s Paul Poon will be in a Peugeot RCZ, and they will prove to be tough competitors.