2000 Macau Grand Prix

The 2000 Macau Grand Prix (formally the 47th Macau Grand Prix) was a motor race for Formula Three cars that was held on the streets of Macau on 19 November 2000. Unlike other races, such as the Masters of Formula 3, the 2000 Macau Grand Prix was not a part of any Formula Three championship, but was open to entries from all Formula Three championships. The race was divided into two aggregate legs: the first leg was held in the morning and lasted fifteen laps. The second took place in the afternoon and lasted fifteen laps. The overall winner was the driver who completed all 30 laps in the shortest amount of time. The 2000 edition was the 47th running of the Macau Grand Prix and the 18th for Formula Three cars.

Race details
Date	19 November 2000
Location	Guia Circuit, Macau
Course	Temporary street circuit 6.120 km (3.803 mi)
Distance	30 laps, 165.27 km (102.69 mi)
Leg 1
Pole
Driver	Narain Karthikeyan	Carlin
Time	2:12.887
Fastest Lap
Driver	Narain Karthikeyan	Carlin
Time	2:14.718
Podium
First	Pierre Kaffer	team hms
Second	André Couto	Bertram Schafer Racing
Third	Mathieu Zangarelli	Promatecme
Leg 2
Driver	Pierre Kaffer	team hms
Fastest Lap
Driver	Narain Karthikeyan	Carlin
Time	2:13.253
Podium
First	André Couto	Bertram Schafer Racing
Second	Paolo Montin	Target Racing
Third	Ryo Fukuda	Ryo Fukuda

The Grand Prix was won by Bertram Schafer Racing driver André Couto, having begun the first leg of the race from sixth position. Couto overtook the winner of the first leg Pierre Kaffer of team hms at the start of the second leg and withstood pressure from Paolo Montin for Target Racing to maintain the lead and become the first Macanese driver to win the Macau Grand Prix. Second place went to Montin and Ryō Fukuda in his self-owned car completed the podium in third place.

Background and entry list

The Macau Grand Prix is a Formula Three race considered to be a stepping stone to higher motor racing categories such as Formula One and has been termed the territory's most prestigious international sporting event.[1][2] The 2000 Macau Grand Prix was the 47th edition of the event and the 18th time the race was held to Formula Three regulations. It took place on the 6.2 km (3.9 mi) temporary 22-turn Guia Circuit on 18 November 2000 with three preceding days of practice and qualifying.[3]

Thirty drivers representing sixteen nationalities were invited to participate by the Macau Grand Prix Committee. Japan had the highest number of drivers with seven; Macau, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Austria all had two or more drivers competing. Of those, 18 debuted in the race. The drivers' average age was 23.6 years. All drove a Dallara-built chassis (either the F399 and F300) from four engine manufacturers (Mugen-Honda, Opel Spiess, Renault Sodemo and Toyota TOM'S).[4] Within the grid, two of the four major Formula Three series were represented by their respective champions. Sébastien Philippe, the Japanese series winner, was joined in Macau by French champion Jonathan Cochet.[5] British champion Antônio Pizzonia missed the event because of a clashing Champ Car test with Mo Nunn Racing. He was replaced at Manor Motorsport by local driver Lei Kit Meng.[6] André Couto, an International Formula 3000 racer, and Formula Nippon driver Alex Yoong were two competitors outside of Formula Three to receive invitations to compete at Macau.[5]

Practice and qualifying

Two practice sessions lasting half an hour were held before the race on Sunday: one on Thursday morning and one on Friday morning.[7] Rain fell before the start of the opening practice session which intensified as it progressed but a dry racing line appeared before its conclusion.[8] Narain Karthikeyan was the fastest driver in the session's opening minutes and more than seven seconds faster than any other driver at one stage.[9] His teammate Takuma Sato was fastest overall with a time of 2 minutes and 32.044 seconds.[8] Tiago Monteiro recorded his best lap time when the dry line appeared towards the session's conclusion and was second.[9] Seiji Ara, Karthikeyan, Patrick Friesacher,[9] Toshihiro Kaneishi, Couto, Robert Lechner, Tomas Scheckter and Pierre Kaffer rounded out the session's top ten drivers.[8] Ben Collins' rear wing loosened because of a sheared retaining bolt and Karthikeyan stopped at the Melco hairpin for unknown reasons.[9]

Qualifying was divided into two 45 minute sessions; the first was held on Thursday afternoon, and the second on Friday afternoon. The fastest time set by each driver from either session counted towards their final starting position for Sunday's race.[7] The first qualifying session was held in cloudy weather conditions.[10] Paolo Montin ran consistently within the top five and later set the provisional fastest lap time at 2 minutes and 15.374 seconds with three minutes remaining. Karthikeyan was three-tenths of a second slower in provisional second; he sustained minor damage to his car's rear with minor contact with a barrier at Moorish Hill corner. Slower traffic delayed Cochet in third and lost him seven chances at a full-speed lap on the tight circuit.[11] Sato was fourth after an engine breakage that stopped him from improving his lap time towards the end of qualifying. Lechner was fifth and Gianmaria Bruni took sixth as he crashed into a barrier at Lisboa corner near the session's conclusion.[12] Couto, Kaffer, Ryō Fukuda and Phillipe rounded out the top ten. Peter Sundberg was the fastest driver not to qualify in the provisional top ten because he was 2.002 seconds slower than Montin. Mathieu Zangarelli was next up ahead of Alex Yoong and Scheckter.[11] Collins was 15th.[10] He was followed by the Japanese trio of Ara, Haruki Kurosawa and Yuji Ide in three of the following four places; they were separated by Enrico Toccacelo in 18th. Miloš Pavlović, Andy Priaulx, Friesacher, Zsolt Baumgartner, Ying Kin Lee, Shinichi Takagi, Kaneishi, Lei, Michael Ho, Jo Merszei and Montiero were the last ten drivers on the provisional grid.[11] Monteiro did not set a lap because he crashed at the R Bend corner and stopped the session after five minutes. The R Bend also caught out the Japanese duo of Kaneishi and Ara with the latter's accident prematurely ending the session with five minutes left because his car was on the racing line.[12]

Narain Karthikeyan (pictured in 2011) had the pole position with a new lap record of the Guia Circuit.

In the second half an hour practice session, held on a dirty track and in cloudy weather conditions,[8] Sato and his teammate Karthikeyan exchanged the fastest lap time throughout,[13] but it was Sato who led at the conclusion of practice with a 2 minutes and 14.087 seconds lap,[8] that he recorded in the session's final minutes having made overnight car setup changes. Karthikeyan was two-tenths of a second slower in second despite minor contact with a barrier beside the track. Provisional pole sitter Montin ran without problems and set the third-fastest lap. Monteiro, Kaffer and Cochet were in positions four to six.[13] Couto duplicated his first practice and qualifying results in seventh. Fukuda, Yoong and Zangarelli completed the top ten ahead of qualifying.[8] While the session passed without the need for a red flag stoppage, Lechner made light contact with a wall at the left-hand corner after the Melco hairpin and could not return to the pit lane. Scheckter hit a barrier at Moorish Hill turn.[13]

The second qualifying session had Priaulx set the early pace and moved past Montin to take the provisional pole position. One third of a way through, Karthikeyan bettered Priaulx's effort to top the time sheets and he held it until Fukuda took over the position.[14] 20 minutes into the session, Karthikeyan reclaimed first with a new track record of the Guia Circuit with a time of 2 minutes and 12.887 seconds and held it to start the first leg from pole position. He was joined on the grid's front row by his teammate Sato who pushed hard to be almost four-tenths of a second slower. Fukuda improved to third as he grazed the circuit's barriers three times while pushing hard to improve his lap and ripped his racing gloves.[15] Kaffer gained fourth places to start the first leg from fourth while Zangarelli advanced seven positions to fifth as the latter was narrowly in front of the sixth-placed Couto. Friesacher qualified in the seventh position, having moved fifteen positions from his first session result.[16] Toccacelo was eighth, ahead of fellow Italian Montin who dropped nine positions to start from ninth and Bruni completed the top ten. Cochet fell from provisional third to eleventh while Monteiro gained the most positions of all competitors to begin from twelfth.[15][16] Behind Cochet and Monteiro the rest of the grid lined up as Priaulx, Scheckter, Sundberg, Collins, Yoong, Ara, Kurosawa, Phillipe, Takagi, Kaneshi, Lechner, Pavlović, Ide, Baumgartner, Ying, Kit, Merszei and Ho.[15]

Qualifying classification

A driver's fastest time from the two qualifying sessions is denoted in bold.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Q1 Time	Rank	Q2 Time	Rank	Gap	Grid
1	21	Narain Karthikeyan	Carlin	2:15.676	2	2:12.887	1	—	1
2	22	Takuma Sato	Carlin	2:16.380	4	2:13.146	2	+0.259	2
3	3	Ryo Fukuda	Ryo Fukuda	2:17.070	9	2:13.262	3	+0.375	3
4	17	Pierre Kaffer	team hms	2:16.790	8	2:13.428	4	+0.541	4
5	5	Mathieu Zangarelli	Promatecme	2:17.572	12	2:13.655	5	+0.768	5
6	10	André Couto	Bertram Schafer Racing	2:16.755	7	2:13.914	6	+1.027	6
7	9	Patrick Friesacher	Bertram Schafer Racing	2:19.808	22	2:14.024	7	+1.137	7
8	27	Enrico Toccacelo	Prema Powerteam	2:18.577	18	2:14.056	8	+1.169	8
9	23	Paolo Montin	Target Racing	2:15.374	1	2:14.057	9	+1.170	9
10	25	Gianmaria Bruni	Fortec Motorsport	2:16.733	6	2:14.276	10	+1.389	10
11	6	Jonathan Cochet	Promatecme	2:15.925	3	2:14.379	11	+1.492	11
12	20	Tiago Monteiro	ASM Formule 3	4:10.834	30	2:14.475	12	+1.588	12
13	8	Andy Priaulx	Lucozade Motorsport Team	2:19.436	21	2:14.487	13	+1.600	13
14	12	Tomas Scheckter	Swiss Racing Team	2:17.616	14	2:14.505	14	+1.618	14
15	28	Peter Sundberg	Prema Powerteam	2:17.480	11	2:14.566	15	+1.679	15
16	29	Ben Collins	RC Motorsport	2:17.915	15	2:14.731	16	+1.844	16
17	11	Alex Yoong	Swiss Racing Team	2:17.580	13	2:14.816	17	+1.929	17
18	16	Seiji Ara	Toda Racing	2:18.004	16	2:14.839	18	+1.952	18
19	2	Haruki Kurosawa	TOM'S	2:18.012	17	2:14.846	19	+1.959	19
20	19	Sébastien Philippe	Promatecme	2:17.376	10	2:15.172	20	+2.285	20
21	38	Shinichi Takagi	Inging	2:20.011	25	2:15.212	21	+2.325	21
22	32	Toshihiro Kaneishi	GM Motorsport	2:20.224	26	2:15.668	22	+2.781	22
23	1	Robert Lechner	TOM'S	2:16.616	5	2:15.982	23	+3.095	23
24	30	Miloš Pavlović	RC Motorsport	2:19.378	20	2:16.041	24	+3.154	24
25	15	Yuji Ide	Skill Speed	2:18.941	19	2:16.098	25	+3.211	25
26	31	Zsolt Baumgartner	GM Motorsport	2:19.812	23	2:16.688	2	+3.801	2
27	26	Ying Kin Lee	Fortec Motorsport	2:19.934	24	—	—	+7.047	24
28	7	Lei Kit Meng	Lucozade Motorsport Team	2:23.053	27	2:22.318	27	+9.431	28
29	18	Jo Merszei	team hms	2:24.515	29	2:23.836	28	+10.949	29
30	36	Michael Ho	GM Motorsport	2:23.891	28	—	—	+11.004	30
110% qualifying time: 2:26.175
Source:[17]
Bold time indicates the faster of the two times that determined the grid order.

Warm-up

A half an hour warm-up session was held on the morning of the race.[7] A short rain shower fell earlier in the morning, making the track wet, but the surface dried out quickly.[18] Although he spun, Kaffer reported no car problems and set the fastest lap at 2 minutes and 18.293 seconds, almost three seconds faster than Friesacher in second place. Kaneishi recorded a lap time late in warm-up to go third-quickest and Sato was fourth. Collins had his car's set-up altered with his diffuser cut for improved top speed after qualifying and placed fifth. Scheckter, Priaulx, Monteiro, Lee and Couto rounded out the top ten drivers entering the first leg.[19]

Race

Sunday's race was divided into two aggregate legs lasting a total of 30 laps. The first fifteen lap leg was held in the morning and the results of that leg determined the starting grid of the second leg with the winner starting from pole position. Afterwards, a five-hour interval was observed to allow for the intervening support races to occur. The second fifteen lap leg took place later in the afternoon. The overall Grand Prix winner was the driver who won the second leg provided all of the race's 30 laps were completed in the shortest amount of time.[7]

Leg 1

The first leg began in cloudy and dry weather conditions at 10:15 Macau Standard Time (UTC+08:00) on 19 November.[7][20] Karthikeyan made a brisk getaway from his standing start on the grid to maintain his lead on the run into the Reservoir Bend corner but he lost it to his teammate Sato on the straight heading towards Lisboa turn.[21] But Sato missed the braking point for the corner and he crashed into a tyre barrier and retired. This gave the lead back to his teammate Karthikeyan, who opened out a small but comfortable lead over the remainder of the field.[22] That same lap, Ho had an accident leaving Mandarin Oriental Bend corner and retired. Positions changed behind him as Couto overtook Fukuda to move into second on lap two and he soon got ahead of Kaffer for second during the following lap.[21] By the conclusion of the fifth lap, Karthikeyan led Couto by five seconds.[22] However, on the next lap, Karthikeyan lost control of his vehicle at Paiol corner and he ran into a wall beside the circuit and became the third retirement. That prompted the safety car's deployment for two laps to allow for his car to be extricated from the track. In the meantime, Cochet drove over debris from Karthikeyan's car and he lost the opportunity to win the race.[21]

At the lap nine restart, Kaffer began to battle Couto for the first position. He went to the outside line to attempt a pass on Couto on the approach to Lisboa corner on the next lap but the latter maintained the lead on the inside line. That lap, Bruni retired when he crashed into a wall at Lisboa turn. On the 12th lap, Kaffer got ahead of Couto entering Lisboa turn but he braked too late and ran wide entering the corner. This put him close to hitting a barrier as Couto retook the lead. Friesacher brushed a wall at R Bend on the lap 12 but he continued without any major vehicular damage. On lap 14, Couto braked too late for Lisboa turn and the lead was taken by Kaffer.[21] He held the position for the rest of the leg to win by 3.4 seconds over Couto and began the second leg from pole position. Zangarelli and Montin were third and fourth and Fukuda took fifth.[22] Friesacher was sixth,[21] Scheckter finished seventh after he was delayed by a slower driver,[23] Toccacelo took eighth, Priaulx ninth and Monteiro tenth.[20] Kurosawa finished eleventh, having moved up eight places from his starting position of 19th. The final finishers Collins, Sundberg, Yoong, the Japanese duo of Ara and Kaneishi, Lechner, Takagi, Lee, Cochet, Pavlović, Baumgartner, Lei and Merszei.[22]

Leg 2

André Couto (pictured in 2002) became the first Macanese to win the Macau Grand Prix under Formula Three regulations.

The second leg commenced later that day at 15:35 local time under cloudy and dry weather conditions.[7][24] Couto made a better getaway than pole position starter Kaffer off the line and passed him going into Lisboa corner. Kaffer put Couto under heavy pressure until Montin began to challenge him for second. On the fifth lap, Montin entered Kaffer's slipstream as the two drove towards Lisboa turn and he then turned right to make a pass under braking. From that point on, Couto's lead was reduced as Montin began closing up to him and was close behind him at the beginning of the seventh lap. Montin attempted to pass Couto under braking at Lisboa corner on laps seven and eight but was unsuccessful in both tries.[25] Kaffer was passed by the faster Fukuda for the third position on the eighth lap.[26] Montin could not make any further attempts to get ahead of Couto because the safety car was deployed on lap thirteen as Lechner crashed into a wall beside the circuit at the R Bend and no overtaking was prohibited under these conditions.[25]

The second leg was run behind the safety car for the final two laps in a single line, giving Couto the victory, making him the first Macanese to win the Macau Grand Prix since it adopted Formula Three regulations in 1983.[27][28][29] Montin finished in the second position and Fukuda completed the podium placings in third. Off the podium, Kaffer took fourth and Tocacello was fifth after the latter advanced three positions from his first leg result.[30] An engine cut out at the Melco hairpin and the main straight restricted Scheckter to sixth.[23] Seventh place went to Collins and the second British driver competing in the event Priaulx finished eighth overall. Monteiro and Friesacher rounded out the top ten finishers. Outside the top ten, Cochet, Sundberg, Lee, Baumgartner, Takagi, Lei, Ara, Merszei, Zangarelli and Kaneishi were the final classified finishers.[30]

Race classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Grid
1	10	André Couto	Bertram Schafer Racing	30	6
2	23	Paolo Montin	Target Racing	30	9
3	3	Ryō Fukuda	Ryo Fukuda	30	3
4	17	Pierre Kaffer	team hms	30	4
5	27	Enrico Toccacelo	Prema Powerteam	30	8
6	12	Tomas Scheckter	Swiss Racing Team	30	14
7	29	Ben Collins	RC Motorsport	30	16
8	8	Andy Priaulx	Lucozade Motorsport Team	30	13
9	20	Tiago Monteiro	ASM Formule 3	30	12
10	9	Patrick Friesacher	Bertram Schafer Racing	30	7
11	6	Jonathan Cochet	Promatecme	30	11
12	28	Peter Sundberg	Prema Powerteam	30	15
13	26	Ying Kin Lee	Fortec Motorsport	30	27
14	31	Zsolt Baumgartner	GM Motorsport	30	26
15	38	Shinichi Takagi	Inging	30	21
16	7	Lei Kit Meng	Lucozade Motorsport Team	29	28
17	16	Seiji Ara	Toda Racing	29	18
18	18	Jo Merszei	team hms	29	29
19	5	Mathieu Zangarelli	Promatecme	29	5
20	32	Toshihiro Kaneishi	GM Motorsport	29	22
NC	15	Yuji Ide	Skill Speed	23	25
NC	19	Sébastien Philippe	Promatecme	19	20
NC	21	Narain Karthikeyan	Carlin	15	1
NC	22	Takuma Sato	Carlin	15	2
NC	1	Robert Lechner	TOM'S	11	23
NC	2	Haruki Kurosawa	TOM'S	8	19
NC	25	Gianmaria Bruni	Fortec Motorsport	7	10
NC	11	Alex Yoong	Swiss Racing Team	6	17
NC	30	Miloš Pavlović	RC Motorsport	5	24
NC	36	Michael Ho	GM Motorsport	0	30
Fastest lap: Narain Karthikeyan, 2:13.253 165.34 km/h (102.74 mph) on lap 11 (leg 2)[24]
Source:[30]

References

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18. "Macau warm-up: Kaffer shows his pace". Autosport. 19 November 2000. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
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20. "47th Macau Grand Prix – Final Result – Leg 1" (PDF). MST World. 19 November 2000. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
21. "Macau Race 1: Mistakes hand Kaffer win". Autosport. 19 November 2000. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
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23. McLaren, Peter (20 November 2000). "Scheckter slowed by mechanical dramas". Crash. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
24. "47th Macau Grand Prix – Final Result – Leg 2" (PDF). MST World. 19 November 2000. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
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External links

• Official website (Archived)