 Macao revved up for Grand Prix weekend
By James Ning (HK Edition)
Updated: 2008-11-13 07:20
The Windsor Arch 55th Macau Grand Prix begins on the wonderfully challenging Guia street circuit in the heart of Macao with two days of practice runs today and tomorrow, followed by two days of competition Saturday and Sunday. With a new sponsor this year, the annual Macau Grand Prix features some exciting new races in addition to the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix, the FIA World Touring Car Championship and the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix - the three long time staples and main attraction of the international motor-racing weekend every year. Windsor Arch, a luxury residential development, is the title sponsor of this year's Macau Grand Prix and naming sponsor of three races: the Windsor Arch Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix, the Windsor Arch Macau GT Cup and the Windsor Arch Macau Road Sport Challenge. The F3 MGP is the final showdown for the FIA Formula 3 International Cup this year - the fifth-straight year this distinction has been given to Macao - while the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is also called Guia Race of Macau. As for the debuting races this weekend, the Windsor Arch Macau GT Cup is a 10-lap invitational race for popular grand touring racing cars. The inaugural race on Sunday will see 36 of these awesome machines vying for the very first trophy. The Road Sport Challenge, also an invitational event, is an open race of modified road cars that comply with relevant safety regulations and divided into three classes (A, B and C) by cylinder capacity. Then there is the Hotel Fortuna Macau and Hong Kong Interport Race, a matchup between the best touring car drivers from the two neighboring cities that will be the finale of this year's motor racing week. A quiet and sleepy enclave looking out on the South China Sea, Macao has transformed itself in recent years into a modern urban community thriving on tourism and other services as well as the world-famous gaming industry. Chui Sai-on, Macao's secretary for social affairs and culture, said at a press conference organized by the Macau Grand Prix Committee (MGPC) last month: "The SAR government continues to implement its sports tourism policy, on the one hand to enhance our organizational capabilities in hosting international sporting events, and on the other to leverage these events along with our World Heritage, entertainment and convention facilities to achieve diversified development of Macao tourism, and fulfill the expectations of visitors".
The Macau Grand Prix has a history of over 50 years. This prestigious motorsport event attracts visitors and international media to Macao each year and promotes Macao's image as a tourism city to the world, Chui added. "The promotion of sports tourism is one of our most important tasks," he said. "We visited Malaysia and Singapore during the Formula One Grand Prix season to observe the events, and organized activities to promote the Macau Grand Prix and Macao tourism there." Last year, Chui recalled, the government worked with local associations in developing a series of activities for the general public to participate in order to increase their appreciation of the Grand Prix and share the exciting carnival atmosphere of the event. For this year, the organizers have increased the scale of festivities around and during GP week. In addition to the Food Festival and the Fireworks Display, footage of the Grand Prix will be shown at the ferry terminals. There will also be carnival-like celebrations at several municipal squares, and strategically-positioned giant screens will show the races live. The success of the Macau Grand Prix is very much founded on the understanding and support of the people of Macao. Chui pledged that the MGPC will continue to work with other government departments, utilize their experience, and improve the performance in order to create an environment that ensures the success of the event and minimizes inconvenience to residents. The MGPC contributed to the story. (HK Edition 11/13/2008 page4) |
