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Steve Cray

'STEP ON THE gas, step on the gas. Don't brake whatever you do,' shouts Hong Kong racing legend Albert Poon. 'Come on, back off. OK. Now push it, go.'

They are split-second commands that could mean the difference between the driver losing control and going into a spin, turning the car over, or worse.

Poon is recounting how he helped one of the 40 or so drivers at last weekend's Hong Kong Automobile Association (HKAA) assault on Zhuhai's 14-corner 4.3km race track steer his way out of trouble on a bend.

And Poon should know. In 1964 he became the first local Hongkonger to wear the Macau Grand Prix crown.

'He lost his nerve and braked. He got scared half way. You don't do that. You have to be quick or you go into the wall,' he says, relaxing in a Zhuhai hotel after a day on the track. 'When I'm teaching people how to drive, it sometimes sounds like I'm scolding them, but you have to remember that as soon as I start to say something it could already be too late.

'The Zhuhai track is relatively safe. If he'd done something drastic, the only thing I could have done was grab the steering wheel and save him from turning the car over. He was doing 80mph or something and had already lost his nerve. For me there was plenty of power to spare.

'I teach drivers to learn the track first. Don't go out on the first lap and tear around and write off the car - get used to the car before you progress. Don't go 7,000 revs on the first lap. Go 5,000, then 5,500 then 6,000. If you don't, the car  controls you.'

And as if to prove the point, the worst of four crashes over the weekend is estimated by Hong Kong Supercar Club vice-president John Koh Boon-huat to have put a $400,000 dent in a $1 million Porsche 996, showing that the risks are very real, especially after a day of rain. The driver suffered minor injuries.

The car was just one among a high-roller's shopping list that included Lotuses, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Mercedes, BMWs and a Maserati among other prestigious marques.

The aim of the weekend event, one of a number organised by HKAA and the Hong Kong Supercar Club, was designed to teach local drivers the finer points of track and road control and give them a chance to let off steam, according to HKAA chief executive officer Andrew Windebank. 'The purpose is threefold: to provide a members' activity, give first-timers track experience and teach them control and safety, and getting them to think twice about both their own and their cars' abilities.'

About 40 drivers - all HKAA members - most of whom were getting their first experience on a racetrack, made the two-and-a-half hour drive in convoy from Hong Kong to Zhuhai for the two-day event that cost $9,800 a head (accommodation and track buffet vouchers included). Once there they were joined by another 15 mainland drivers who keep  their cars at the track.

Split into three teams, they then took turns on the circuit, getting  about an hour  at a time. Last weekend's burn was complicated by rain, though, leading to the accidents that slowed proceedings. Although, mercifully, no one was seriously injured, it took time for the tow truck to winch the dented racers off the track.

The weekend was an informal affair, with instruction the main aim, but some  drivers had  racing experience and they tended to get competitive, even though there weren't any trophies or titles at stake. Instructors included Poon and 24-year-old professional Darryl O'Young, fresh to Hong Kong from a successful racing career in the US to drive Porsches for Jebsen and Co.

There was also a charity element, with the HKAA treating 16 orphans aged six to 10 from the Zhuhai Social Welfare Association to a day's entertainment. The association presented $20,000 to the orphanage at the end of the weekend.

'Darryl taught me a lot,' says  driver Stanley Szeto, 30, who owns a garment company in Kwun Tong. 'The braking point on a corner, how to judge the apex, accelerate into the exit, and about gears.'

'Racing is dangerous, of course,' says Poon. 'You have to take risks. If you're on the limit and something breaks in your car then you'll have an accident.'

Poon entered his first Macau Grand Prix in 1959, placing third in 1962 before winning it two years later. Since then, he has scored numerous victories in Asia, as well as three more second placings and one third in Macau in the 1960s and 70s. And at 68 he has no intention of giving it up. His latest victory was back where it all began in Macau,  where he won a race behind the wheel of a Mini last November in an event that was part of the annual Grand Prix weekend.

The former police officer, who left the force in 1966 to enter the commercial auto industry and focus on racing, says he'll keep competing as long as he's capable. 'I've had numerous accidents. In Phillip Island off Australia I rolled a car which was written off after hitting the sandbags. It happened on a straight in a puddle. But after eight rolls and three flips I went on to the golf course and played my best game ever,' he says, laughing.

Strangely, although the region's most famous driver is happy to pass on some of his hard-won expertise, he wouldn't encourage local youngsters to enter the profession.  'My advice would be, don't do it. There's no future for people here because there's no local manufacturer and sponsorship is minimal. How do you expect guys here to go up against those from Japan, Malaysia or even Macau, where the governments pour money in to give them a big boost.

'Can you imagine the Hong Kong government giving us one dime to race? No way. A local guy would have to spend phenomenal cash to be successful, and believe me, I know that you get nowhere without it, no matter how much talent you've got. At one time I was offered the opportunity to race in Europe, but had to turn it down. Why? Because I couldn't leave my family hungry. I had no choice.'

Not only would Poon not advise youngsters to turn professional, with the luxury of hindsight he says he would never have done it himself.  'If I had my time again I wouldn't race,'  he says. 'I realise now what a big bundle of money I've thrown away and how many sacrifices my family have made to keep me in racing. For instance, my first wife, a University  of Hong Kong graduate, took up teaching and we saved all our money to go to  Macau.

'I could have bought the house I've lived in for 30 years by now. But no, all my money has gone on racing.'

And as if all those challenges and sacrifices  weren't enough,  Poon says the profession has changed, making it even more difficult for newcomers to break through. Gone are the days when you could hit the track in a used motor.  'If you don't have a factory car now you're not going to be competitive, unlike before when you could go and buy a secondhand one.'

But Poon, who says he got his first taste of life behind the wheel when he was 14 by joining schoolmates who'd 'stolen' their dads' cars to go joy riding, adds that if youngsters are hell bent on racing they should give it 100 per cent.

'Be prepared to sacrifice. Don't settle for half measures. If you do well in a  couple of races, don't let it go to your head, there's always one guy better. You have to keep learning. You can't rest on your laurels.'



Just drive, he said