Britain's Peter Hickman astride a BMW1000RR ran a lights-to-flag finish to win the 55th edition of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix yesterday. Starting from pole position he powered into the lead and from that moment never looked back.
Hickman finished the 12-lap race in 00:20:16.090 at an average speed of 152.4 km/h, best lap of 2:24.487 and gap of 28.969, according to the officials results.
He had fellow Briton Davey Todd behind him for the opening four laps, but once he pulled away there was no catching the MGM FHO Racing BMW rider.
“All went to plan,” said Hickman on his fourth Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix victory. “The tyre was fantastic, everything worked to perfection. Davey [Todd] was pushing early on which was good for me as once I pulled away from him, I then started making mistakes. I had a little talk to myself and by lap 10 I was focussed again."
The race had to be restarted after an incident involving Ireland's Brian McCormack who fell and suffered an ankle injury. In trying to avoid McCormack’s motorcycle, the Netherlands' Nadieh Schoots also tumbled. Both were taken to hospital where they were treated for minor injuries.
That happened on the opening lap which was minus Todd who pulled off the grid at the start and it seemed as if he’d missed his chance. Thankfully for him the red flag meant he could start again and was rewarded with a second position finish and a place on the podium, his first in Macau.
“It was Peter Hickman who told me I might have a problem,” said Todd. “He saw little puffs of smoke coming from the bike on the warm-up and it turned out to be a split oil pipe. I felt as if my world had come apart walking back down pit lane. However, the team was great, they kept going just in case there was a red flag, which there was, so we could join in the restart. A massive thanks to [fellow Briton] Phil Crowe, he gave us a replacement pipe as we didn’t have one without which we couldn't have gone back out.”
Starting from the head of the second row of the grid, Germany's David Datzer suffered a poor start to the race, losing a number of positions off the line. He then set about working his way up through the field, eventually passing Macau debutant Josh Brookes of Australia for third, which he held all the way to the chequered flag.
“I was so disappointed with my start,” admitted the German rider. “However, I’m blessed to have a great bike which has been prepared by a great team. I worked my way through and to be on the podium again in Macau is a great way to end the event.”
“I’m happy with the final result,” said Brookes, who marked his debut in Macau with a fourth place finish. “After we had the gearbox issue in qualifying, everything with the bike has been perfect. I had a great start from row five but it’s my job to get away well off the line. Once David passed me for third there was no way I was prepared to push to take it back. Macau is a new experience for me. It’s a different environment to anything else I’ve known in racing. I’ve enjoyed my time and who knows if I will come back. Never say never.”
Fifth place went to Britain's Rob Hodson. “My plan was to go faster,” said the SMT Racing Honda rider, “and that’s exactly what we did. To finish in fifth is great plus we’re the highest placed non-BMW.”
Britain's veteran rider Michael Rutter was an early retirement with technical issues. “It’s a real shame as the bike has just been improving all week,” said the nine-time Macau Grand Prix winner. “I’ve been around long enough to realise it’s one of those things.”
Finland's Erno Kostamo, who won last year’s Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, was in third place in the first half of the race but he had to pull over due to an electrical issue with the bike. Australia's David Johnson had a brake problem with his Kawasaki and was forced to retire. Kamil Holan of the Czech Republic crashed on the final lap and was taken to hospital where he was treated for minor injuries.
Of the race's 20 riders who started 15 classified. Three did not start.
- MGPOC, MPD
Caption: Britain's Peter Hickman astride a BMWM1000RR celebrates his 4th Macau Motocycle Grand Prix victory on the Guia Circuit yesterday. - Photo courtesy of MGPOC
