Munich. BMW road racer Peter Hickman (GBR) lived up to hisbilling as favourite on the streets of Macau (CHN). On Saturday, hetook victory in the legendary Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix on a BMW S1000 RR run by the Aspire-Ho by Bathams Racing team. This is thethird time that Hickman has taken victory in the motorcycle classicat the famous “Guia Circuit”.
The motorcycle race on the narrow 6.120-kilometre track through theurban canyons of Macau was held for the 52nd time thisyear. Hickman secured pole position in qualifying, underlining hisintent to continue his winning run at the “Guia Circuit”.
Hickman initially lost the lead at the start of the race, but theBrit soon regained his advantage. He led the field on a high-speedpursuit through the narrow streets, until the race was red flaggedwith just three laps remaining, presenting Hickman with victory.Second place went to his team-mate Michael Rutter (GBR), who wasriding a Honda in Macau. Martin Jessopp (GBR / Ducati) finished third.
Danny Webb (GBR / MGM by Penz13) was also in contention for a podiumspot on his RR and eventually took fourth place. David Johnson (AUS /PR Racing) was seventh. Derek Sheils (IRL / MGM by Penz13) followeddirectly behind in eighth while rookie Davey Todd (GBR / PuraGlobeSyntainics Racing Oil by Penz13) finished his first Macau Grand Prixin ninth position.
Victory in Macau is the perfect end to a successful season forHickman, who won the Superstock race and the prestigious Senior TT atthe Isle of Man Tourist Trophy in June. He also claimed race wins andpodiums at the North West 200 and the Ulster Grand Prix. Hickman alsomade it into the British Superbike Championship (BSB) Showdown as oneof the top-six riders over the course of the season.
Peter Hickman: “It’s fantastic for me and the team,and to give our sponsors Aspire-Ho a win here is absolutely brilliant.Michael (Rutter) made a much better start than me, which is usual.He’s always good off the line. I was quite happy just to sit therefollowing him. Once I was in the lead I tried to get away a bit. ThenI heard Martin (Jessopp) coming closer and after the third lap I gotmy head down a little bit to see if I can have a little bit of a gapand if I could manage it. This is basically what I did. I managed towin every international road race this year, so that’s prettyspectacular. And I was in the BSB Showdown as well – so it’s been areally good year.”
