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.
'I like the Macau circuit. I've been racing there for 10 years and although it's a bit bumpy and narrow, I like it that way,' he said.
Winkelhock will be hoping to go one better than his previous best result in Macau.
He scored two second places and a third last year and would love nothing better than victory.
If Kwan wins this year's race, he will join an elite group who have won back-to-back races.
Japanese driver Nobuhide Tachi achieved the feat in 1974 and 1975 and Hong Kong's Paul Chow managed it in 1977 and 1978. Italian ace Emanuele Pirro also scored a double in 1991 and 1992.
