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FORMULA 3 MACAU GRAND PRIX
FIA FORMULA 3 INTERCONTINENTAL CUP

Formula 3 Euro Series

With Signature's Edoardo Mortara (at right during last year's Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix) hav-ing wrapped up the 2010 Formula 3 Euro Series in September at Oschersleben, the defending For-mula 3 Macau Grand Prix cham-pion continued his winning form at the season finale in Hockenheim, when the Italian scored his sev-enth win of the season in the pe-nultimate race of the season. Two-time Masters of Formula 3 cham-pion Valtteri Bottas (ART Grand Prix) finished second in Round 17, while Mortara's Signature team-mate Marco Wittmann was third. With one race remaining in the championship, Bottas and Witt-mann were still in the fight for the runner-up position.

Meanwhile, Round 17 saw the outcome of the rookie champi-onship, with Antonio Felix da Costa of Motopark Academy win-ning the title, despite rival's Daniel Juncadella finishing eighth in the race.

However, all was not lost for Juncadella as the Spaniard won his maiden victory in the category in the final race of the season in Round 18. It was a Spanish one-two in the race as Roberto Merhi (Mucke Motorsport) was second and finished the season fifth.

Although Wittmann finished seventh in the season finale, he secured the runner-up position behind Mortara, who, along with teammate Laurens Vanthoor, was disqualified from the race because there was not enough fuel left in the tank of the car.

Formula BMW Pacific Alumni to Compete in Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix

Track time on the Guia Circuit can mean the difference between victory and defeat. This year, six of the 30 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix competitors will have a head's up when they arrive in Macau, having previously competed in the supporting Formula BMW Pacific race at previous Macau Grands Prix.

Will Buller (Fortec Mo-torsport) won last year's Formula BMW Pacific season finale, while 2009 Formula BMW Pacific cham-pion Ryo Haryanto (Raikkonen Robertson Racing) finished third in the 2009 race and 11th in 2008. Haryanto's Macau teammate Felipe Nasr was fourth in 2009, while Jazeman Jaafar (Carlin) also competed in 2009. Alexander Sims (Raikkonen Robertson Rac-ing) was eighth in 2008, while newly crowned Japan Formula 3 champion Yuji Kunimoto finished fifth in the 2008 Formula BMW Pacific Macau Grand Prix race.

The experience can mean all the difference. Says Sims: "After my first few laps of Macau in For-mula BMW in 2008 I could not be-lieve that racing would be possi-ble, but lap by lap you adjust and get closer to the limit, then the next thing you know it is time to race wheel to wheel! In the race, on the first lap my teammate braked too late at turn 1 and stopped me making the corner, so I went back to last place. As I fought my way through the field I ended up overtaking two people almost every lap and coming through to finish 6th and getting the fastest lap of the race. It was a great experience of being on the limit all the time and overtaking."

Cooper Tires British F3 International Series

Vergne Flies in FR3.5 Test

British F3 champion and early Macau favourite Jean-Eric Vergne, Adriano Buzaid and Macau-bound Oliver Webb enjoyed their prize drives in a Formula Renault 3.5 Series car late last month at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain. Vergne, already a winner in the Renault World Series, piloted a Carlin-prepared car to fourth posi-tion on the time sheets. Webb tested with Fortec and Buzaid with Tech 1 Racing. The top 3 finishers in this year's British F3 Interna-tional Series were awarded tests in a Formula Renault 3.5 car, al-though this year's runner up James Calado, who will be making his Macau debut this month, was unable to attend due to prior test-ing commitments.

Changes Highlight 2011 Calen-dar

Exciting changes are on the cards for British F3 when the se-ries kicks off the 2011 season in April at Monza, before heading home to Oulton Park. The 10-round season will once again fea-ture three-race weekends. The calendar has the series visiting French venue Paul Ricard for the first time since 1998. Races in Au-gust at the Nurburgring are also included on the schedule.

Next year will also see a fo-cus on series newcomers as the National Class is renamed the Rookie Championship, and will aim to nurture new talent as driv-ers take their first steps into For-mula 3. Rookie Championship drivers entering for the full season will each receive a branded race suit as part of the package, and will continue to benefit from power unit data-sharing support provided by Neil Brown Engineering. The 2011 Rookie Champion will re-ceive the prize of a waived entry fee into the 2012 British F3 Inter-national Championship.

ATS Formel 3 Cup

Tom Dillmann was crowned the 2010 ATS Formel 3 Cup champion after the Frenchman outscored Daniel Abt by eight points over the 18-race season. During the season finale at Oschersleben, Abt managed to keep his championship chances alive after taking the lead at the start of Round 17 and scoring an extra point for the fastest race lap. However, Abt was not able to overcome Dillmann's points lead during the deciding Round 18, and finished series runner-up.

Round 18 proved to be a true thriller. An incident between Stef Dusseldorp and Jimmy Eriksson at the start forced a restart. Follow-ing the re-start, Abt held the lead with Dillmann following in second. However, as the German began dropping back due to a technical problem, Abt saw Dillmann retire due to fuel-pump failure. Luck was not on Abt's side. In the closing stages of the race, his Dallara Volkswagen was also forced into early retirement.

For Kevin Magnussen, the season finale was a success. Magnussen won Round 18 after Abt's retirement, finished third in the championship and took the rookie title in the process.

FIA WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
GUIA RACE OF MACAU -- PRESENTED BY SOCIEDADE DE JOGOS DE MACAU, S.A.

Chevrolet's Yvan Muller is favourite to win a second FIA World Touring Car Championship title, as the Frenchman heads to the season finale at the 57th Macau Grand Prix with a 37-point lead over BMW driver Andy Pri-aulx.

For the sixth straight year, the FIA WTCC will host its double-header season finale at the Macau Grand Prix. After the penultimate races last month in Okayama, and with just a further 50 points on of-fer, 2008 champion Muller will be looking to seal the championship at Macau, with three-time cham-pion Priaulx the only man still able to challenge for the 2010 title.

Heavy rain in Okayama was once again the story of the week-end as, for the third consecutive year, heavy downpours soaked the circuit for Rounds 19 and 20. After Priaulx earned pole position during Saturday's qualifying ses-sion, Sunday's rain favoured Mul-ler. In extremely difficult condi-tions, the Chevrolet driver kept a cool head and collected two third-place finishes. After a brilliant sec-ond-place finish in the first race, Priaulx spun and retired in the early stages of Race 2. A few laps later, 2009 title holder Gabriele Tarquini (SR-Sport) lost control and crashed out of the lead, and saw his title defense end as well. In the Manufacturers' Champion-ship, Chevrolet is only 14 points shy from securing the title.

Race 1 was won by Chevro-let's Rob Huff, while Augusto Far-fus (BMW Team RBM) was the Race 2 winner.

Local Drivers Make Impact in Macau

For the past five years, tour-ing car drivers from Macau and Hong Kong have been an integral part of the FIA WTCC's season finale at the Macau Grand Prix. Now celebrating its sixth year at Macau, five drivers from the neighbouring Special Administra-tive Regions of China will take part in this year's double header, in-cluding Macau racers Andre Couto, the winner of the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix in 2000, Joseph Merszei and Henry Ho Wai Kun, as well as Hong Kong drivers Philip Ma and Darryl O'Young, the first full-time competitor from city in the series.

O'Young, a two-time Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion, who has won three times on the Guia Circuit including the inaugural Macau GT Cup in 2008, stepped up to the FIA WTCC challenge in 2010 with Bamboo Engineering racing a Chevrolet Lacetti. The Canadian-born Hong Kong driver has claimed three Yokohama In-dependents' Trophy victories thus far, including one during the penul-timate races in Okayama (podium pictured above), and will arrive in Macau 2nd behind Sergio Heran-dez in the Independents' Trophy.

Last year saw a record num-ber of five Macau drivers on the grid for the FIA WTCC races, with Ho, Merszei, Liu Lik Ka, Lei Kit Meng and Couto all taking part. In fact, Couto has been part of every FIA WTCC round in Macau since the series first became part of the Macau Grand Prix in 2005.

As O'Young makes history as the first Chinese driver to race a full season with the FIA WTCC, another Hong Kong racer made history two years ago in Macau when he became the first Hong Kong driver to score a FIA WTCC point at the 55th Macau Grand Prix. Matthew Marsh, driving a BMW 320si for Wiechers-Sport finished eighth in Race One.

MACAU MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

Duke Road Racing Rankings

Ryan Farquhar is all but set to win an unprecedented fifth Duke Road Race Rankings title after dominating the 2010 road racing season. With just the 44th Edition of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix remaining on this year's schedule, Farquhar has a lead of over 2,000 points from his nearest rival, and will win a third trophy in a row.

Farquhar further boosted his points tally with three victories at the Gold Cup meeting at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough, UK for his 10th international win of the sea-son. Macau-bound Keith Amor is fifth in the rankings, which for the first-time ever, includes the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix.

British Superbikes Update

Two-time and defending Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix champion Stuart Easton -- who will look to make it three in a row this year -- will reunite with MSS Colchester Kawasaki for the 2011 season and will race with Kawasaki Racing Team in Macau this year along with teammate Keith Amor. Easton finished ninth in this season's MCE British Superbike Champion-ship.

-source: macu gp