2000 Macau Grand Prix

The 2000 Macau Grand Prix (formally the 47th Macau Grand Prix) was a motor race for Formula Three (F3) cars that was held on the streets of Macau on 19 November 2000. Unlike other races, such as the Masters of Formula 3, the 2000 Macau Grand Prix was not a part of any F3 championship, but was open to entries from all F3 championships. The race was divided into two 15-lap aggregate legs held on the morning and the afternoon, with the overall winner being the driver who completed all 30 laps in the shortest amount of time. The 2000 edition was the 47th running of the Macau Grand Prix and the 18th for F3 cars.

Race details
Date 19 November 2000
Location Guia Circuit, Macau
Course Temporary street circuit
6.120 km (3.803 mi)
Distance 30 laps, 165.27 km (102.69 mi)
Leg 1
Pole
Driver Narain Karthikeyan Carlin
Time 2:12.887
Fastest Lap
Driver Narain Karthikeyan Carlin
Time 2:14.718
Podium
First Pierre Kafferteam hms
Second André CoutoBertram Schafer Racing
Third Mathieu ZangarelliPromatecme
Leg 2
Driver Pierre Kaffer team hms
Fastest Lap
Driver Narain Karthikeyan Carlin
Time 2:13.253
Podium
First André CoutoBertram Schafer Racing
Second Paolo MontinTarget Racing
Third Ryo FukudaRyo Fukuda

The Grand Prix was won by Bertram Schafer Racing driver André Couto, having begun the first leg of the race from sixth position. Couto overtook the winner of the first leg Pierre Kaffer of team hms at the start of the second leg and withstood pressure from Paolo Montin of Target Racing to maintain the lead and become the first Macanese driver to win the Macau Grand Prix held to F3 rules. Montin finished third and Ryō Fukuda in his self-owned car took third place.

Background and entry list

The Macau Grand Prix is a Formula Three (F3) race considered to be a stepping stone to higher motor racing categories such as Formula One and has been termed the territory's most prestigious international sporting event.[1][2] The 2000 Macau Grand Prix was the 47th edition of the event and the 18th time it was held to F3 regulations. It took place on the 6.2 km (3.9 mi) temporary 22-turn Guia Circuit on 18 November 2000 with three preceding days of practice and qualifying.[3]

A total of 30 drivers representing s16 nationalities were invited to participate by the Macau Grand Prix Committee. Japan had the highest number of drivers with seven; Macau, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Austria all had two or more drivers competing. Of those, 18 debuted in the race. The drivers' average age was 23.6 years. All drove a Dallara-built chassis (either the F399 and F300) from four engine manufacturers (Mugen-Honda, Opel Spiess, Renault Sodemo and Toyota TOM'S).[4] Within the grid, two of the four major F3 series were represented by their respective champions. Sébastien Philippe, the Japanese series winner, was joined in Macau by French champion Jonathan Cochet.[5] British champion Antônio Pizzonia missed the event because of a clashing Champ Car test with Mo Nunn Racing. He was replaced at Manor Motorsport by local driver Lei Kit Meng.[6] André Couto, an International Formula 3000 racer, and Formula Nippon's Alex Yoong were two competitors outside of F3 to receive invitations to compete at Macau.[5]

Practice and qualifying

Two practice sessions lasting half an hour were held before the race on Sunday: one on Thursday morning and one on Friday morning.[7] Rain fell before the start of the opening practice session which intensified as it progressed but a dry racing line appeared before its conclusion.[8] Narain Karthikeyan was the fastest driver in the session's opening minutes and more than seven seconds faster than any other driver at one stage.[9] His teammate Takuma Sato was fastest overall with a time of 2 minutes, 32.044 seconds.[8] Tiago Monteiro recorded his best lap time when the dry line appeared towards the session's conclusion and was second.[9] Seiji Ara, Karthikeyan, Patrick Friesacher,[9] Toshihiro Kaneishi, Couto, Robert Lechner, Tomas Scheckter and Pierre Kaffer rounded out the session's top ten drivers.[8] Ben Collins' rear wing loosened because of a sheared retaining bolt and Karthikeyan stopped at the Melco hairpin for unknown reasons.[9]

Qualifying was divided into two 45 minute sessions; the first was held on Thursday afternoon, and the second on Friday afternoon. The fastest time set by each driver from either session counted towards their final starting position for Sunday's race.[7] The first qualifying session was held in cloudy weather conditions.[10] Paolo Montin ran consistently within the top five and later set the provisional fastest lap of 2 minutes, 15.374 seconds with three minutes remaining. Karthikeyan was three-tenths of a second slower in provisional second; he sustained minor damage to his car's rear with minor contact with a barrier at Moorish Hill corner. Slower traffic delayed Cochet in third and lost him seven chances at a full-speed lap on the tight circuit.[11] Sato was fourth after an engine breakage that stopped him from improving his lap time towards the end of qualifying. Lechner was fifth and Gianmaria Bruni took sixth as he crashed into a barrier at Lisboa corner near the session's conclusion.[12] Couto, Kaffer, Ryō Fukuda and Phillipe rounded out the top ten. Peter Sundberg was the fastest driver not to qualify in the provisional top ten because he was 2.002 seconds slower than Montin. Mathieu Zangarelli was next up ahead of Alex Yoong and Scheckter.[11] Collins was 15th.[10] He was followed by the Japanese trio of Ara, Haruki Kurosawa and Yuji Ide in three of the following four places; they were separated by Enrico Toccacelo in 18th. Miloš Pavlović, Andy Priaulx, Friesacher, Zsolt Baumgartner, Ying Kin Lee, Shinichi Takagi, Kaneishi, Lei, Michael Ho, Jo Merszei and Montiero were the last ten drivers on the provisional grid.[11] Monteiro did not set a lap because he crashed at the R Bend corner and stopped the session after five minutes. The R Bend also caught out the Japanese duo of Kaneishi and Ara with the latter's accident prematurely ending the session with five minutes left because his car was on the racing line.[12]

Narain Karthikeyan (pictured in 2011) had the pole position with a new lap record of the Guia Circuit.

In the second half an hour practice session, held on a dirty track and in cloudy weather,[8] Sato and his teammate Karthikeyan exchanged the fastest lap throughout,[13] but it was Sato who led at the conclusion of practice with a 2 minutes, 14.087 seconds lap,[8] that he recorded in the session's final minutes having made overnight car setup changes. Karthikeyan was two-tenths of a second slower in second despite minor contact with a barrier beside the track. Provisional pole sitter Montin ran without problems and set the third-fastest lap. Monteiro, Kaffer and Cochet were in positions four to six.[13] Couto duplicated his first practice and qualifying results in seventh. Fukuda, Yoong and Zangarelli completed the top ten.[8] While the session passed without the need for a red flag stoppage, Lechner made light contact with a wall at the left-hand corner after the Melco hairpin and could not return to the pit lane. Scheckter hit a barrier at Moorish Hill turn.[13]

The second qualifying session had Priaulx set the early pace and moved past Montin to take the provisional pole position. One third of a way through, Karthikeyan bettered Priaulx's effort to top the time sheets and he held it until Fukuda took over the position.[14] 20 minutes into the session, Karthikeyan reclaimed first with a new track record of the Guia Circuit with a time of 2 minutes, 12.887 seconds and held it to start the first leg from pole position. He was joined on the grid's front row by his teammate Sato who pushed hard to be almost four-tenths of a second slower. Fukuda improved to third as he grazed the circuit's barriers three times while pushing hard to improve his lap and ripped his racing gloves.[15] Kaffer gained fourth places to start the first leg from fourth while Zangarelli advanced seven positions to fifth as the latter was narrowly in front of the sixth-placed Couto. Friesacher qualified in the seventh position, having moved fifteen positions from his first session result.[16] Toccacelo was eighth, ahead of fellow Italian Montin who dropped nine positions to start from ninth and Bruni completed the top ten. Cochet fell from provisional third to eleventh while Monteiro gained the most positions of all competitors to begin from twelfth.[15][16] Behind Cochet and Monteiro the rest of the grid lined up as Priaulx, Scheckter, Sundberg, Collins, Yoong, Ara, Kurosawa, Phillipe, Takagi, Kaneshi, Lechner, Pavlović, Ide, Baumgartner, Ying, Kit, Merszei and Ho.[15]

Qualifying classification

A driver's fastest time from the two qualifying sessions is denoted in bold.

Final qualifying classification
Pos No. Driver Team Q1 Time Rank Q2 Time Rank Gap Grid
1 21 Narain Karthikeyan Carlin 2:15.676 2 2:12.887 1 — 1
2 22 Takuma Sato Carlin 2:16.380 4 2:13.146 2 +0.259 2
3 3 Ryo Fukuda Ryo Fukuda 2:17.070 9 2:13.262 3 +0.375 3
4 17 Pierre Kaffer team hms 2:16.790 8 2:13.428 4 +0.541 4
5 5 Mathieu Zangarelli Promatecme 2:17.572 12 2:13.655 5 +0.768 5
6 10 André Couto Bertram Schafer Racing 2:16.755 7 2:13.914 6 +1.027 6
7 9 Patrick Friesacher Bertram Schafer Racing 2:19.808 22 2:14.024 7 +1.137 7
8 27 Enrico Toccacelo Prema Powerteam 2:18.577 18 2:14.056 8 +1.169 8
9 23 Paolo Montin Target Racing 2:15.374 1 2:14.057 9 +1.170 9
10 25 Gianmaria Bruni Fortec Motorsport 2:16.733 6 2:14.276 10 +1.389 10
11 6 Jonathan Cochet Promatecme 2:15.925 3 2:14.379 11 +1.492 11
12 20 Tiago Monteiro ASM Formule 3 4:10.834 30 2:14.475 12 +1.588 12
13 8 Andy Priaulx Lucozade Motorsport Team 2:19.436 21 2:14.487 13 +1.600 13
14 12 Tomas Scheckter Swiss Racing Team 2:17.616 14 2:14.505 14 +1.618 14
15 28 Peter Sundberg Prema Powerteam 2:17.480 11 2:14.566 15 +1.679 15
16 29 Ben Collins RC Motorsport 2:17.915 15 2:14.731 16 +1.844 16
17 11 Alex Yoong Swiss Racing Team 2:17.580 13 2:14.816 17 +1.929 17
18 16 Seiji Ara Toda Racing 2:18.004 16 2:14.839 18 +1.952 18
19 2 Haruki Kurosawa TOM'S 2:18.012 17 2:14.846 19 +1.959 19
20 19 Sébastien Philippe Promatecme 2:17.376 10 2:15.172 20 +2.285 20
21 38 Shinichi Takagi Inging 2:20.011 25 2:15.212 21 +2.325 21
22 32 Toshihiro Kaneishi GM Motorsport 2:20.224 26 2:15.668 22 +2.781 22
23 1 Robert Lechner TOM'S 2:16.616 5 2:15.982 23 +3.095 23
24 30 Miloš Pavlović RC Motorsport 2:19.378 20 2:16.041 24 +3.154 24
25 15 Yuji Ide Skill Speed 2:18.941 19 2:16.098 25 +3.211 25
26 31 Zsolt Baumgartner GM Motorsport 2:19.812 23 2:16.688 26 +3.801 26
27 26 Ying Kin Lee Fortec Motorsport 2:19.934 24 — — +7.047 24
28 7 Lei Kit Meng Lucozade Motorsport Team 2:23.053 27 2:22.318 27 +9.431 28
29 18 Jo Merszei team hms 2:24.515 29 2:23.836 28 +10.949 29
30 36 Michael Ho GM Motorsport 2:23.891 28 — — +11.004 30
110% qualifying time: 2:26.175
Source:[11][15][17]
Bold time indicates the faster of the two times that determined the grid order.

Warm-up

A half an hour warm-up session was held on the morning of the race.[7] A short rain shower fell earlier in the morning, making the track wet, but the surface dried out quickly.[18] Although he spun, Kaffer reported no car problems and set the fastest lap at 2 minutes, 18.293 seconds, almost three seconds faster than Friesacher in second place. Kaneishi recorded a lap late on for third and Sato was fourth. Collins had his car's set-up altered with his diffuser cut for improved top speed after qualifying and was fifth. Scheckter, Priaulx, Monteiro, Lee and Couto made up positions five through ten.[19]

Race

Sunday's race was divided into two aggregate legs lasting a total of 30 laps. The first 15-lap leg was held in the morning and the results of that leg determined the starting grid of the second leg with the winner beginning from pole position. Afterwards, a 5-hour interval was observed to allow for the intervening support races to occur. The second 15-lap leg took place later in the afternoon. The overall Grand Prix winner was the driver who won the second leg provided all 30 laps were completed in the shortest amount of time.[7]

Leg 1

The first leg began in cloudy and dry weather at 10:15 Macau Standard Time (UTC+08:00) on 19 November.[7][20] Karthikeyan made a brisk getaway from his standing start on the grid to maintain his lead on the run into the Reservoir Bend corner but he lost it to his teammate Sato on the straight heading towards Lisboa turn.[21] But Sato missed the braking point for the corner and he crashed into a tyre barrier and retired. This gave the lead back to his teammate Karthikeyan, who opened out a small but comfortable lead over the remainder of the field.[22] That same lap, Ho had an accident leaving Mandarin Oriental Bend corner and retired. Positions changed behind him as Couto overtook Fukuda to move into second on lap two and he soon got ahead of Kaffer for second during the following lap.[21] By the conclusion of the fifth lap, Karthikeyan led Couto by five seconds.[22] However, on the next lap, Karthikeyan lost control of his vehicle at Paiol corner and struck the wall, becoming the third retirement. That prompted the safety car's deployment for two laps to allow for his car to be extricated from the track. In the meantime, Cochet drove over debris from Karthikeyan's car and he lost the opportunity to win the race.[21]

At the lap nine restart, Kaffer began to battle Couto for the first position. He went to the outside line to attempt a pass on Couto into Lisboa corner on the next lap but the latter maintained the lead on the inside line. That lap, Bruni retired following the collision against the wall at Lisboa turn. On the 12th lap, Kaffer overtook Couto entering Lisboa turn but he braked too late and ran wide entering the corner. This put him close to hitting a barrier as Couto retook the lead. Friesacher brushed a wall at R Bend on the lap 12 but he continued without any major vehicular damage. On lap 14, Couto braked too late for Lisboa turn and Kaffer took the lead.[21] He held the position for the rest of the leg to win by 3.4 seconds over Couto and began the second leg from pole position. Zangarelli and Montin were third and fourth and Fukuda took fifth.[22] Friesacher was sixth,[21] Scheckter finished seventh after he was delayed by a slower driver,[23] Toccacelo took eighth, Priaulx ninth and Monteiro tenth.[20] Kurosawa finished eleventh, having moved up eight places from his starting position of 19th. The final finishers Collins, Sundberg, Yoong, the Japanese duo of Ara and Kaneishi, Lechner, Takagi, Lee, Cochet, Pavlović, Baumgartner, Lei and Merszei.[22]

Leg 2
André Couto (pictured in 2002) became the first Macanese to win the Macau Grand Prix under Formula Three regulations.

The second leg commenced later that day at 15:35 local time under cloudy and dry weather.[7][24] Couto made a better getaway than pole position starter Kaffer off the line and passed him going into Lisboa corner. Kaffer put Couto under heavy pressure until Montin began to challenge him for second. On the fifth lap, Montin entered Kaffer's slipstream as the two drove towards Lisboa turn and he then turned right to make a pass under braking. From that point on, Couto's lead was reduced as Montin began closing up to him and was close behind him at the beginning of the seventh lap. Montin attempted to pass Couto under braking at Lisboa corner on laps seven and eight but was unsuccessful in both tries.[25] Kaffer was passed by the faster Fukuda for the third position on the eighth lap.[26] Montin could not make any further attempts to get ahead of Couto because the safety car was deployed on lap thirteen as Lechner crashed into a wall beside the circuit at the R Bend and no overtaking was prohibited under these conditions.[25]

The second leg was run behind the safety car for the final two laps in a single line, giving Couto the victory, making him the first Macanese to win the Macau Grand Prix since it adopted F3 regulations in 1983.[27][28][29] Montin finished in the second position and Fukuda completed the podium placings in third. Off the podium, Kaffer took fourth and Tocacello was fifth after the latter advanced three positions from his first leg result.[30] An engine cut out at the Melco hairpin and the main straight restricted Scheckter to sixth.[23] Seventh place went to Collins and the second British driver competing in the event Priaulx finished eighth overall. Monteiro and Friesacher rounded out the top ten finishers. Outside the top ten, Cochet, Sundberg, Lee, Baumgartner, Takagi, Lei, Ara, Merszei, Zangarelli and Kaneishi were the final classified finishers.[30]

Race classification
Final race classification
Pos No. Driver Team Laps Grid
1 10 André Couto Bertram Schafer Racing 30 6
2 23 Paolo Montin Target Racing 30 9
3 3 Ryō Fukuda Ryo Fukuda 30 3
4 17 Pierre Kaffer team hms 30 4
5 27 Enrico Toccacelo Prema Powerteam 30 8
6 12 Tomas Scheckter Swiss Racing Team 30 14
7 29 Ben Collins RC Motorsport 30 16
8 8 Andy Priaulx Lucozade Motorsport Team 30 13
9 20 Tiago Monteiro ASM Formule 3 30 12
10 9 Patrick Friesacher Bertram Schafer Racing 30 7
11 6 Jonathan Cochet Promatecme 30 11
12 28 Peter Sundberg Prema Powerteam 30 15
13 26 Ying Kin Lee Fortec Motorsport 30 27
14 31 Zsolt Baumgartner GM Motorsport 30 26
15 38 Shinichi Takagi Inging 30 21
16 7 Lei Kit Meng Lucozade Motorsport Team 29 28
17 16 Seiji Ara Toda Racing 29 18
18 18 Jo Merszei team hms 29 29
19 5 Mathieu Zangarelli Promatecme 29 5
20 32 Toshihiro Kaneishi GM Motorsport 29 22
NC 15 Yuji Ide Skill Speed 23 25
NC 19 Sébastien Philippe Promatecme 19 20
NC 21 Narain Karthikeyan Carlin 15 1
NC 22 Takuma Sato Carlin 15 2
NC 1 Robert Lechner TOM'S 11 23
NC 2 Haruki Kurosawa TOM'S 8 19
NC 25 Gianmaria Bruni Fortec Motorsport 7 10
NC 11 Alex Yoong Swiss Racing Team 6 17
NC 30 Miloš Pavlović RC Motorsport 5 24
NC 36 Michael Ho GM Motorsport 0 30
Fastest lap: Narain Karthikeyan, 2:13.253 165.34 km/h (102.74 mph) on lap 11 (leg 2)[24]
Source:[22][26][30]

References
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