Harvey primed for tour of duty
FORMER champion Tim Harvey aims to give himself a memorable birthday present when he returns to Macau after a four-year absence for the Guia race on Sunday - the second round of the Asia Pacific Touring Car Championship.
Harvey, the 1989 Macau winner who turns 33 on race day, and fellow-Briton Justin Bell will be driving BMW 318is under the Motorola Pagers Racing Team banner.
The two had just come away from Fuji, the opening round of the APTCC, with poor results and are eager to put that disappointment behind them.
'We had very little time with the car before we left England for Japan and Fuji served as a good test session for us,' said Harvey, who drove a Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 in his previous Macau win.
'We had problems with the tyres in Fuji, but don't judge us on that showing, with the situation sorted out we can be well up in the finishing order.' Harvey, the 1992 British touring car champion, was also in Macau in 1990 to defend his title, but failed to finish after crashing his BMW M3 at the San Francisco Hill corner.
Teammate Bell will be making his Macau debut, but nevertheless he is confident of keeping the Motorola colours flying high in the Portuguese enclave.
'Tim has been telling me the perils of the Macau track and I am looking forward to the challenge,' said the 26-year-old.
But warned Harvey: 'It's a difficult and long circuit to learn and I would advise Justin to take it steadily and get in as many practice laps as possible.
'The speed will come naturally when you get used to the circuit.
'I made the mistake of pushing myself too early and crashed out last time.' The Motorola drivers acknowledge their arch-rivals will be the Schnitzer works BMW team of Joachim Winkelhock and Steve Soper.
