This article first appeared in the Sep/Oct 2015 issue of WGM.
The Macau Grand Prix is prestigious in its own right, but even more significant during the course of its 61 year history has been the race’s role as a platform for up and coming drivers.
Michael Schumacher won the Macau Grand Prix in 1990 before going on to win a record seven Formula 1 World Championships with Benetton and Ferrari
As far back as 1977, when Italian Riccardo Patrese produced the first of his two consecutive Macau Grand Prix victories, the Guia Circuit has been the place to see motor racing’s next generation plying their wares. Patrese would go on to start 256 Formula 1 races across 17 seasons for six wins and 37 podiums – finishing second behind teammate Nigel Mansell in the Drivers’ Championship in 1992 while driving for Williams.
Scotland’s David Coulthard won 13 Formula 1 races after taking out the 1991 Macau Grand Prix
However, it was the decision to adopt Formula 3 as Macau’s premier category in 1983 that saw a production line of motor racing greats roll through. The field that year included a number of drivers who would go on to enjoy lengthy Formula 1 careers including Gerhard Berger, Martin Brundle and Roberto Guerrero but was won by none other than the great Ayrton Senna – winner of 41 races and three World Championships before his tragic death in 1994.
Others to take the chequered flag since include Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, David Brabham and Takuma Sato while the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Damon Hill, Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber, Alan Jones and Mika Häkkinen have all taken part.
Sebastian Vettel raced in Macau twice without success but has since won four F1 World Championships
Ironically, Michael Schumacher’s win over Häkkinen in 1990 is part of Macau Grand Prix folklore. Four years before claiming the first of his seven F1 World Championships, Schumacher was embroiled in an epic battle with Häkkinen in Macau which saw him leading the Finn in the second of two races but needing to finish more than three seconds ahead in order to win on aggregate time.
Häkkinen was easily keeping pace but with just a few laps remaining the two cars collided as he tried to pass Schumacher down the straight. Häkkinen careened into the barrier, allowing Schumacher to limp to victory and sparking debate ever since as to who was to blame!
Mika Häkkinen crashed out while leading the 1990 Macau Grand Prix but made amends with two F1 World Championships
Such has been the influence of the Macau Grand Prix that as recently as 2013 – the same year it celebrated its 60th anniversary – the 22 drivers taking part in the Formula 1 World Championship included 15 who had previously raced in Macau.
And it hasn’t only been Formula 3 showing off the stars of the future. In 1988, motorcycling great Kevin Schwantz brought the Suzuki he had ridden to two race wins in that year’s 500cc Motorcycle World Championships to Macau where he not only blitzed the field but rode half the race on only his rear wheel to show off for fans.
Long before he was 500cc Motorcycle World Champion, Kevin Schwantz destroyed the field at the 1988 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
Four years later, in 1992, a young Carl Fogarty joined Schwantz on the list of Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix winners. Fogarty would go on to become the greatest Superbike rider of all time with his 59 race wins and four world titles between 1988 and 2000 unbeaten to this day.
