THE racing car of double Macau Grand Prix (GP) winner Arsenio ''Dodjie'' Laurel passed through the territory last week on its way to the new Macau GP Museum, where it will take pride of place.
Filipino-born Dodjie was the first Asian to win the Macau Grand Prix and drove the white Lotus 150 to victory in the 1964 and 1965 races. He lost his life in the enclave while trying to gain a third win at the wheel of a Brabham in 1967.
The car was formally presented to the Macau Government Tourist Office by the Laurel family, represented by Dodjie's brother, the former vice-president of the Philippines, Doy Laurel.
The Macau GP Museum is to be opened in time for the 40th year of the Grand Prix and features a round-up of Macau-winning racing machines.
Teddy Yip, one of Hong Kong's best-known motor sport personalities and Macau Grand Prix competitors, has loaned five cars to the museum - a 1957 Jaguar XK140, 1965 Lotus, 1971 Elfin 600B, 1971 Porsche 906, and a 1972 Formula Atlantic March.
The very latest machines, which race in the F3 class, are represented by replicas of the cars driven by Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, and David Coulthard, as well as the cars from last year of Rickard Rydell and Pedro Lamy.
