Advertisement

Steep learning curve

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0

Each November, Andre Couto left the Macau Grand Prix with a new souvenir. Some years it was a bit off the front wing, other times it was a piece broken off the back wing.

Couto, at the time young, impressionable and a budding racing driver, would go to the garages after the race and ask for whatever they didn't need - something to remember that year's race.

'A long time ago, you could be in the garage, be with the drivers and mechanics,' Couto said. 'They were quite friendly in those days [and] they would talk to me.'

Couto, the only Macanese driver to have won the Formula Three race at the Macau Grand Prix, remembers being part of the race starting from early adolescence. He was seven during the first running of the F3 race in 1983. As an 11-year old, he remembers standing atop the peak to watch the race and in 1995, when he was 18, he raced in his first Macau Grand Prix.

In 2000, he won. Like many drivers, Couto dreamed of winning the Macau Grand Prix. Unlike others, he saw an annual reminder of his dream.

Now celebrating its 25th running, the Macau Grand Prix has an illustrious winners' list - Ayrton Senna (1983), Michael Schumacher (1990), David Coulthard (1991), Ralf Schumacher (1995) and Takuma Sato (2001).

Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2-3x faster
1.1x
220 WPM
Slow
Normal
Fast
1.1x