The Macau Grand Prix 2020’s Reservoir Stand was not full, but some spectators told The Macau Post Daily yesterday that it was still worth coming.
This year’s Grand Prix had only two foreign racers and fewer spectators from overseas, and the topic of whether the government should have cancelled the races because of the COVID-19 pandemic was a hot one for a while. However, Huang, a racegoer from Shunde came to the city solely for the Grand Prix. He told The Macau Post Daily that even if the same situation continues next year he would still come for the races.
Huang, who was sitting at the Reservoir Stand, said that he has been coming to the Grand Prix since 2003, adding that this year he came for the Macau GT Cup and the Guia Race. He was looking forward to watching Rob Huff and Ma Qinghua’s performance.
Huang also said that that he noticed that a lot of “good seats” were available in the Reservoir Stand, adding that it would have been packed if it was not for the novel coronavirus pandemic. He pointed out that the ticket price had increased a bit this year, but he understood that the COVID-19 pandemic had made things more difficult for the Macau government.
Besides the quieter atmosphere in the stand, Huang also said that Saturday’s qualifying races were not as exciting. He also commented that the safety cars came out a lot of times.
Regarding the races, fellow spectator Lin shared the same view as Huang and said that the Macau GT race was exciting to watch but the Greater Bay GT race was “boring” and had a lot of “accidents”.
Lin said that she and her husband came from Guangzhou and they have been coming to the Grand Prix for many years. She said that the Grand Prix was the main incentive for her to come to Macau and hoped that it would continue next year.
Lin suggested the government to offer a family package, in which children under a certain age would pay half price. She said that she acknowledged that the Grand Prix targets young adults but then she would like to bring her children to the race so they would get more interested in sporting events.
A local spectator, surnamed Vera Carter, who has been watching the Grand Prix for 21 years, told The Macau Post Daily that she was very proud that Macau was able to host the Grand Prix this year. She said that normally the stands would be 100 percent packed and the cheers would be very loud but she was still “having a blast”.
Vera Carter also said that usually the guards would not allow people to put up an umbrella but this year due to a small crowd in the stand, people were holding their umbrellas up and blocking the view.
However, Chan, another local spectator in the Reservoir Stand said the opposite. She complained that the organisers did not provide an umbrella or remind the spectators to bring one. She said that the sun was very bright, and a lot of people were not feeling well and went to a shaded area to watch the races.
Chan also said that the stand was half-empty, adding that the government should learn from this year’s experience and come up with a contingency plan for next year if the pandemic continues.
Two spectators holding up an umbrella watch yesterday’s races with empty chairs around them at the Reservoir Stand. Photo: Prisca Tang
