AT THE MACAU Grand Prix, this weekend, the safety and rescue crew are ready and waiting in case of a serious shunt and injury. They are out of sight and out of mind for most motorsport spectators, but for me they are knights in shining armour. When cars crash on the circuit, safety and rescue cars dart on to the track instantly, lights flashing, pedal to metal, at speeds of 180km/h-200km/h, the fastest paramedics in the world.
Klaus Doerr, who coordinated safety and rescue at the event for years as a volunteer, now comes back every year to supervise. In 2003, the cars will again be Alfa-Romeos, provided by Leo Wong, owner of Kingsland Cars Ltd. The safety car will be a 147 GTA, the rescue cars will be 156s.
In the 29 years I have attended the Macau Grand Prix, I have always wished to get out there and drive one of the safety cars on the track. Recently, I got my chance, in the Alfa 147 GTA - though not on the circuit. So, while driving my test course around Clearwater Bay and Ma On Shan, I imagined I was on the famous Guia Circuit in Macau where I raced my 1965 classic car in the early 1980s and got a feeling for those fascinating curves.
The exterior of the 147 GTA is smart: a three-door hatchback with a slight rally-look or that of an electronic, heat-seeking dart. The side view impresses with the five-leaf clover alloy wheels and aero kit with decorative scoops. The front view is provocative. The designers have gone beyond the groin lines on the bonnet running down to a black triangular patch. Now it is a vertical V with a round button at the top. The stylish bumpers and airdams hang stunningly low, almost concealing the ultra-wide tyres. Now the snake-face is at the rear: tail-lights the bright red eyes of a lovesick adder, its wide, dark mouth hanging low in the aero bumper, and the twin chrome exhaust pipes sticking out of its mouth like a mobster's cigar.
At last I'm in the cockpit, deep in the richly upholstered recaro seat, generous lateral hold cushions hugging my ribs, my seat belt tight, left foot on a massive dead-pedal, right foot on a bare metal accelerator, close to the brake pedal, in case you want to press both at once. The six-speed gearstick brings to mind the huge 3.2-litre, 250-horsepower V-6 engine under the bonnet. Now my hands are on the small, leatherbound, three-spoke steering wheel, through which I see tachometer and speedometer, sunk in dark round caves, with the fuel gauge in prime position. I'm ready for two things. One, to test the Alfa 147 in Sai Kung. Two, to imagine I am the safety car driver on the Macau Guia Circuit, rushing to the scene of a crash. I wait in the paddock (the bus stop in Sai Kung). Then comes the call over the walkie talkie: 'Accident! Accident! Two car crash Lisboa Corner!'
Engaging first gear, I rocket out of the paddock. In less than two car lengths, I shift to second, causing a power peep, shift to third at 6,000rpm, brake sharply to take the curve at the new Star Plaza car park in Sai Kung (Mandarin Oriental Bend) with a howl of tyres, back to second for the sharp right, then another, and back to Hiram's Highway. I gasp at the incredible instant, massive power available. I could have got away in second gear.