Kwan hopes to find old Macau magic

HONG KONG hero Charles Kwan remains optimistic he can emulate last year's triple winning performance at this weekend's Macau Grand Prix but admitted: 'It's going to be much harder.' Kwan won the Guia race, the Mandarina Duck Supercar Challenge and the Macau Cup on the same weekend, a feat unprecedented in the history of the Macau Grand Prix.

Competing in Macau for the 11th time, Kwan will team up with BMW teammates, touring car veteran Joachim Winkelhock of Germany and Steve Soper driving in the colours of new sponsors, San Miguel.

'I was in a very powerful car last year [Porsche] and I will be down by about 60 horsepower from last year,' said Kwan, who crashed out of last weekend's Zhuhai international race meeting.

'I'll be in the BMW 318i this year for the Guia and although I have never raced in it before, I've done about two hours testing in Fuji.

'Ferrari will sponsor me a car for the other two races. I have to admit it is going to be extremely tough matching what I did last year but nothing is impossible,' said Kwan.

The 31-year-old former investment banker has made motor-racing his full-time job and has had considerable success in the southeast Asian touring car championships where he has had four wins this year to lead the standings with one round left.