Macau wins Pearl River Delta duel

Macau drivers were once again stronger than their fellow competitors from neighbouring Hong Kong in Asia’s most famed motor racing duel. Pole-position holder Chou Keng Kuan resisted a fast-charging Álvaro Mourato to claim a lights-to-flag victory in the 2011 edition of the Macau/Hong Kong Interport Race.
The two local drivers were the centrepieces of one of the most exciting races on Saturday. Macanese Mourato crossed the line just two hundredths of a second behind Chou, amassing his second consecutive podium but failing to retain the title he conquered one year ago.
The 10-lap race began behind the safety car, but as the competition got underway, Chou Keng Kuan managed to distance himself from the opposition, while Hong Kong’s Billy Lo – who started the heat third on the grid – overtook Mourato to move into second.
A battle for the second place ensued, with Mourato overtaking Lo on the seventh lap. The Macanese driver quickly made a target out of Chou Keng Kuan, but he was unable to catch and pass the leader of the race.
Mourato took his chance on the notorious Lisboa Bend, but his efforts were to no avail. Álvaro and Chou Keng Kuan were embroiled in an intriguing fight that ended with the Macanese driver being seemingly impeded of taking the lead on the 6.2 kilometres of the Guia Circuit.
Disappointed, Mourato explained why he didn’t protested the race: “I am not happy at all with my performance. My sole intention was to finish first once again and I gave my best, but it seems my best was not enough. Chou cut my way when I was trying to overtake him, but what can I do about it? We all know each other in Macau and to protest wouldn’t do any good.”

Hong Kong managed to put only one driver on the podium, but the neighbouring SAR racers had their revenge in the CTM Macau Touring Car Cup. Samson Fung won the competition ahead of China Dragon Racing team-mate Paul Poon, whilst local pole-sitter Leong Ian Veng finished in third place.
Pole-sitter Paul Poon got away cleanly at the start, but Leong, who started from second, took off in hot pursuit and on Lap eight made contact with Poon and grabbed the lead.
Fung, who had been patiently running third, moved up to second and then overtook Leong to take the lead.
Paul Yau also made his debut on the podium, by winning the 2011 edition of the Macau Road Challenge, beating Japan’s Tatsuya Tanigawa by 3.452 seconds. Fellow Hong Kong driver, Kenneth Look was third behind the wheel of a Subaru Impreza GDB Ver8.
Thai pilot and pole-sitter Nattavude Charoensukhawatana got off to a strong start and began to build up a gap at the front of the race. Yau, however, stalled on the grid and expertly began to work his way back through the field until he had the head of the race under eye.
The competition was interrupted by a brief period on Lap four, but after the induced break Charoensukhawatana took the lead once again. Hong Kong’s Yau moved into second before setting his sights on claiming the lead.
The Hong Kong racer caught up to Charoensukhawatana, the Thai struggling with mechanical problems. Yau overtook his rival on Lap nine to take a tasteful win.