Macau under the noise of engines

The 65th Macau Grand Prix took place last weekend with different races and drivers coming from all over the world. The most important races were Formula 3, World Touring Car Cup (WTCR), Grand Tourism (GT) World Cup and Motorcycle Grand Prix.

On the grid start before the last race of the WTCR season

Last Sunday, the Formula 3 race was spectacular. If the victory of Daniel Ticktum was expected, the big accident that occurred was not. The young German driver Sophia Floersch lost control of her car, flying at over 250km/h. She crashed into another car and a media platform. The driver of the other car, two photographers and one marshal were injured. With only a spinal fracture, Sophia was miraculously otherwise injured.

In WTCR, it was the last three races of the championship. One on Saturday and two on Sunday. The first race was won by the French driver Jean-Karl Vernay. The Belgian driver Frédéric Vervisch won the second race, “It’s my first victory this year and as a rookie, it’s the best the way to win,” he said.

The last race of the year was won by Esteban Guerrieri who finished third in the championship. Second place was for the expert Yvan Muller and the first one for the Italian driver Gabriele Tarquini, 56 years old. During all the races, many accidents happened, but without any injuries.

The weekend was also animated by the GT World Cup. No championship, only one race to determine who the world champion is. Before the main competition on Sunday, a qualification race came about on Saturday. It’s as important as the main race because it’s difficult for drivers to overtake on the Guia Circuit.

Indeed, the BMW driver Augusto Farfus, won the qualifications and the main race, was followed by Marco Engel and the previous world champion, Edoardo Mortara. The Brazilian driver Farfus was very happy after the race because “it was a difficult and long year.”

Motorcycles were also on the circuit on Saturday. This was a breath-taking race. Peter Hickman won the race for the third time in front of Michael Rutter, Martin Jessopp, all British. Most of the riders who were in Macau had already rode on the Isle of Man, the most dangerous motorcycle race in the world where 255 riders have died since 1907.

The Guia Circuit is one of the most dangerous tracks in the world. It’s the only circuit where you will find a narrow turn of more than 250km/h, according to the WTCR Belgian driver Denis Dupont. Last year, the British biker Daniel Hegarty died after hitting a barrier. In 2012, the rider Luis Carreira and the driver Phillip Yau Wing died also because of the barriers.