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Unus Alladin

Driver Angelo Barretto noted that it has been 36 years since a Filipino last won the Macau Grand Prix.

 Scrolling down the Macau Grand Prix roll of honours, one finds it was indeed 1963 when Dodgie Laurel took the chequered flag for the second straight year in a Lotus in the early days of the Grand Prix.

 Barretto harbours hopes that a Filipino will again one day stand on the podium, trophy in hand and celebrate with the customary spray of champagne before a massive throng of photographers and spectators.

 The Macau Grand Prix has become a highly competitive Formula Three race, now recognised as a World Cup event and it might be wishful thinking that a Filipino might ascend to the same heights as Laurel did.

 Barretto is in good hands. The 29-year-old ex-karter from Muntinlupa is part of a very capable racing team who are going places - and have the record to prove it.

 The Castrol Meritus team enter the fray at the Macau Grand Prix weekend with an impressive track record and the sole aim of lifting the profile of Asian racing.

 The Meritus team are competing in the Ericsson Formula Challenge for Asian Formula 2000 cars.

 Although less powerful than Formula Three, it is still considered the stepping stone to Formula Three and Formula 3000 with a career in Formula One not far away.

 Barretto, the only Filipino to have raced internationally in 1999, has a supporting cast that takes pride in its work.

 The other racers on the team are Japanese driver Takuma Sato, who has taken Europe by storm in only his third season of car racing, and Thai driver Nattapong, another up-and-coming driver.

 Matthew Winter, commercial director of Castrol Meritus, is proud his team have won eight Asian Championships over the past four seasons, making them the most successful team in Asian Formula 2000.

 'We have 15 people running the show, including 12 who are running three cars. These guys are all dedicated professionals,' said Winter.

 What sets Meritus apart from other teams is the unwavering support Winter gives to Asian talent.

 'We are exclusive of any hot-shot European or foreign talent. We want to promote Asian talent,' said Winter.

 Team owner Peter Thompson went further by saying: 'Over the year, Meritus and its commercial partners have proved that Asian drivers are the equal of their European counterparts provided that the correct training and financial support is made available.

 'In 1996, our first Asian driver champion won by beating two former European Motorsport champions. Today, [India's] Narain Karthikeyan is proving his ability in the British Formula Three championship and competed against the world's best F3 drivers at the Macau Grand Prix,' he said.

 Karthikeyan is indeed a success story. He has been winning races in Formula Three and has now signed for the Formula Three arm of the Stewart Formula One team. He credits Meritus for providing his early development.

 Another driver to benefit from the team's Asian focus is Macanese driver Jo Merszei, who like Karthikeyan, will be competing in the Macau Grand Prix showpiece for Carlin Motorsport.

 Winter remembers Karthikeyan in the early days when the Indian was a 'very green' driver in Madras.

 'When I first saw him in Madras, he didn't know anything about racing at all. We trained him and he has improved a lot.

 'He's now an exceptional driver. We gave him the foundation and now he's part of the Stewart Formula Three team. He has developed into a very good, very smooth driver,' said Winter.

 Sato and Barretto will be in uncharted waters, competing in Macau this weekend for the first time.

 They will be racing in an Asian Formula 2000 car for the first time and with only two 30-minute practice sessions today before the big race, Sato and Barretto will have their work cut out.

 'Being a Filipino, I am aware of the prestige that Macau has. The circuit doesn't strike me as dangerous and I see it as a challenge. Everything will be new to me. I have to learn a lot in a short time,' said Barretto.

Everything will be new to me. I have to learn a lot in a short time 



Barretto symbolises dawning age of Asian success