HICKMAN PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
November 14, 2019

Peter Hickman underlined his credentials as the fastest road racer in the world by being easily the fastest road racer in Macao once again as the first practice session for the 53rd edition of the race ended with the MGM by Bathams BMW more than a second clear of his nearest rival at 2:28.007. For a long while the gap had been over two seconds but as Hickman sat in pitlane watching the timing screens, the rest of the field closed up behind him but never quite threatened to reach him.

This was a brilliant start to the Suncity Group 66th Macau Grand Prix weekend, an hour of track action with no problems bar the occasional overshoot as various riders explored the true meaning of late braking, coming down from more than 270kph to the 90-degree right turn at Lisboa.

But as ever the story of a fast lap around the 6.2km Guia Circuit is written in the hills overlooking the city, and eight-time winner Michael Rutter rode some perfect sectors to put the MGM by Bathams Honda RC213V within a second of Hickman’s time.

David Johnson was third quickest on his first outing on the Tak Chun Group by PBM Ducati, Paul Bird’s team rounding off a dominant season in the British Superbike Championship with return to Macao that looks likely to have podium possibilities. His team-mate is John McGuinness, the hugely successful and experienced road racer made good use of the machine on which Scott Redding won this year’s BSB crown to go fourth quickest by the end of the hour-long session at 2.29.817.

Horst Saiger was next up on the Saiger Racing Yamaha, but a couple of seconds off the pace, and heading up a second group of closely-matched riders. Just behind him on the timesheets was Lee Johnston and his Ashcourt Racing BMW team-mate Gary Johnson. Didier Grams (G&G Motorsport BMW) was a 8th and then strong performances from Rob Hodson (JGH Racing BMW) and Erno Kostamo (MGM by Penz 13) rounded out the top ten.

The free practice session is only a form guide, and the first qualifying session will establish a provisional grid, and although Hickman looks like continuing the dominant form he showed here last year and throughout a remarkably successful season of road and circuit racing, the eventual makeup of the top ten on the grid is a completely open book.

In what might almost have been a re-run of this morning’s free practice session, Peter Hickman topped the timesheets in the afternoon qualifying by more than a second from Michael Rutter, and upped the stakes once more.

From the moment the MGM by Bathams BMW completed its first flying lap of the 6.2km Guia Circuit, Hickman went to the top of the leaderboard and stayed there until the chequered flag dropped, with a final lap time of 2:25.10 that was more or less untouchable.

At one point his margin over the rest of the field was well over two seconds, but once again Michael Rutter produced a late flyer to put the MGM by Bathams Honda RC213V into second place - but still 1.7 seconds adrift of the flying Hickman.

Rutter, though, is not Hickman’s only challenger for tomorrow’s second qualifying session and Saturday’s Grand Prix. Third spot on the overnight leaderboard is occupied by John McGuinness on the first of the two Tak Chun Group by PBM Ducatis. He set a time of 2.27.18 to be 0.348 of a second behind Rutter, and 0.507 ahead of his team-mate David Johnson, and a busy racetrack might be the only reason the Australian is behind McGuinness instead of in front of him as he was on the morning’s timesheets.

Horst Saiger was again fifth fastest on the Saiger Racing Yamaha and then comes Derek Sheils, up from 15th this morning on the Burrows Racing Suzuki, Lee Johnston on the Ashcourt Racing BMW and Davey Todd, bringing the MGM by Penz13 BMW into 8th place, a notable improvement on 19th in the morning practice session.

With Didier Grams showing well in 9th on the G&G Motorsport BMW, honourable mentions once again go to Erno Kostamo (MGM by Penz13 BMW) and Rob Hodson (JGH Racing BMW), 10th and 11th respectively, doing a good job of maintaining position in a field where everyone around them has upped their game and made it harder to stay where they were during the opening session of the weekend.

Peter Hickman will start the 53rd running of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix from pole position on Saturday on his MGM by Bathams BMW, although it was a close-run thing.

His overnight margin of 1.7 seconds over team-mate Michael Rutter looked unassailable throughout most of Friday morning’s second qualifying session until five minutes from the end when the TV screens showed the MGM by Bathams Honda RC213V loitering on track, Rutter idling along for as long as possible in order to create the empty space he needed for a final fast run.

And it was a fast one, only the second 2:25 lap time of the weekend and so nearly the pole lap Rutter was looking for. But in the end he was a couple of tenths shy of Hickman’s 2:25.10 pole lap.

Third place went to Australian David Johnson, who set a time of 2:26.09 on the Tak Chun by PBM Ducati, one and-a-half seconds faster this morning than he was yesterday, some achievement given he’d never ridden a Ducati until yesterday morning.

Equal testament to the quality of the machinery was the fourth-fastest time set by John McGuinness on the second the BSB-winning Ducatis, his best qualifying position since 2013. Lee Johnston (Ashcourt Racing BMW) moved into fifth on the grid this morning and will start ahead of Horst Saiger (Saiger Racing Yamaha) and the remarkable Erno Kostamo (MGM by Penz13 BMW), the 28-year-old Finnish rider who’s a comparative newcomer to Macau and road racing in general.

On the second of the Ashcourt Racing BMW’s Gary Johnson held eighth place when the checkered flag dropped, with Phil Crowe (Handtrans Lee Jackson AC BMW) in ninth. Still working on his recovery from injuries sustained at Silverstone nine years ago, Ian Hutchinson scored a popular tenth place on the Team Milwaukee with SMT BMW, but he’ll have his hands full in the race, fending off the likes of Didier Grams G&G Motorsport BMW), Davey Todd (MGM by Penz 13 BMW) and Derek Sheils (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Suzuki) who are close behind him on the grid.

The Suncity Group Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix 53rd Edition starts at 15.55 local time on Saturday.

Peter Hickman was the runaway leader on the first running of the race, which was halted on the fourth lap after an incident involving two riders.

Rutter led after the first lap of the re-start and although Hickman overtook him at Lisboa the red flags came out on lap two after a six-rider pile-up.

Three riders were taken to hospital but the injuries are non life-threatening.

Republic of Ireland rider Derek Sheils, Dan Kruger and Erno Kostamo were the riders transferred to hospital for further assessment and observation but all three were conscious.

The race was stopped after the track was littered with riders and machines, with another Irish rider Michael Sweeney, Didier Grams and Phil Crowe the other riders involved.

The red flags were displayed in the initial running of the race after Rob Hodson crashed and Marek Cerveny was unable to avoid him. Both riders were reported to be ok but a 30-minute delay ensued because of fuel and water on the circuit.

Hickman had built up a 7.2 seconds lead over Rutter in the initial running of the race, with Australian David Johnson third on the PBM Ducati, Lee Johnston fourth for Ashcourt Racing BMW, Davey Todd fifth and Horst Saiger sixth.

The re-run race was then scheduled for eight laps and Rutter blasted into an early lead, before Hickman passed him on the brakes going into Lisboa on the second lap.

Initially it was thought that the race would be considered null and void because only one lap had been completed but then Rutter was awarded the victory, his first at the event since 2012.

The Midlands rider was on board a Honda RC213V for the second year in succession, while his team-mate, runner-up Hickman, was riding a Smiths Racing-prepared BMW under the MGM by Bathams Racing banner.

Hickman had qualified in pole position and was regarded as a hot favourite to claim a fourth Macau success over the 3.8-mile Guia circuit.

Johnson completed the podium positions and Todd, Northern Irishman Johnston and Ian Hutchinson made up the final top six leaderboard.

Defending champion Peter Hickman (MGM by Bathams BMW) was second, with David Johnson (Tak Chun by PBM Ducati) third.

The race began with Hickman doing what everyone expected of him: he stormed the opening two laps to build a lead of seven seconds over Rutter (MGM by Bathams Honda RC213V) with David Johnson (Tak Chun by PBM Ducati), Lee Johnston (Ashcourt Racing BMW) and Davey Todd (MGM by Penz 13 BMW) all in close pursuit.

Hickman appeared to have backed off and settled into his lead as lap three went by but then red flags came out when Rob Hodson (JGH Racing) fell at the Esses and Marek Červený (Wepol Racing BMW), who was close behind, could not avoid the fallen motorcycle. Both riders received only minor injuries and returned to the paddock on the recovery truck.

The organizers declared a re-start, thereby nullifying the three laps which had been run, per the regulations, and re-formed the grid for an 8-lap race.

This time Michael Rutter was the one with the quick getaway and was ahead of Hickman before Turn One, but he couldn’t break away from Hickman in the same way as Hickman had escaped in race one – instead of three seconds as it had been in lap one, the gap was closer to three tenths, and Hickman duly passed Rutter under brakes into Lisboa Bend and started stretching the gap at once.

But the red flags came out only a few seconds later as six riders were involved in an incident at Post 15 – Erno Kostamo (MGM by Penz 13), Derek Sheils (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Suzuki), Didier Grams (G&G Motorsport BMW), Michael Sweeney (Martin Jones Racing BMW), Philip Crowe (Handtrans-Lee-Jackson-AC BMW) and Dan Kruger (MGM by Penz 13 BMW). Three riders were taken to hospital; Kostamo, Sheils and Kruger, all were conscious. Kruger and Sheils have been discharged, while Kostamo is in a stable condition and will undergo surgery tonight.