Rob Huff Returns on Hunt for Record-Setting 10th Macao Victory Briton Rob Huff, the man who holds the record for the most victories on the Guia Circuit, will contest the Macau Race – FIA WTCR from November 14-17.
The Briton, who has won the international touring car showcase a record nine times between 2008 and 2017, will have to beat a formidable line-up of adversaries if he is to better his own record of Macau Guia Race wins. Huff will be racing for Volkswagen – through Sébastien Loeb Racing – one of seven customer racing brands in the field.
The team boasts a four-car, full-time line-up, and Huff is joined at SLR VW Motorsport by another Macao winner, Mehdi Bennani of Morocco, while the SLR Volkswagen set-up comprises double World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson and Benjamin Leuchter.
Hungarian driver Norbert Michelisz, is the man to beat as the 2019 FIA WTCR season approaches its climax. A Macao winner in 2010, Michelisz has already matched his most successful World Touring Car season to date in terms of victories and has emerged as the protagonist in a four-car Hyundai line-up.
The Hungarian is partnered in the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse line-up by Gabriele Tarquini, who claimed last year’s inaugural FIA WTCR drivers’ title by three points in a gripping season finale in Macao, while the sister i30 N TCR cars of the BRC Racing Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team will be driven by Nicky Catsburg and young talent Luca Engstler.
Engstler, 19, has already claimed the TCR Asia and Malaysia titles, achieved a race win in the highly competitive TCR Europe series, and made his FIA WTCR debut this year. He gets his Macau Guia Race shot in place of Augusto Farfus Jr. who is defending his SJM Macau GT Cup – FIA GT World Cup crown.
Honda’s title challenge in the FIA WTCR this year has been headed by Esteban Guerrieri, driving one of ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport’s Honda Civic Type R TCRs. A famous victory in the Macao season finale in 2018 prompted an outpouring of emotion from Guerrieri, who this year is partnered by Argentinian compatriot Nestor Girolami.
Another previous winner, Tiago Monteiro missed the Macau Guia Race last year as he prioritized a full-time return from injury, something the Macao favourite has successfully achieved this season. Portuguese driver Monteiro – who races alongside Attila Tassi at the KCMG Honda squad – has showed no loss of speed either, claiming an emotional first FIA WTCR win in front of his home crowd in Vila Real earlier this year.
Chinese brand Lynk & Co is a new addition to the FIA WTCR grid this year in the hands of the Cyan Racing outfit. Thed Björk made history at the opening round of the season by becoming the first driver to win a world-level, FIA-sanctioned race in a Chinese car, and both he and his team-mate, four-time World Touring Car champion and two time winner in Macao in 2012 and 2013, Yvan Muller, have won multiple times this season.
Cyan’s four-car Lynk & Co line-up is completed by triple World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx – who, like Muller, has won twice in Macao previously, in 2006 and 2007 – and Muller’s nephew Yann Ehrlacher, who both race under the Cyan Performance Lynk & Co banner.
Audi had Macau Guia Race pedigree prior to its first modern-day participation in the race last year, but two victories from three races underlined the RS 3 LMS’s credentials at the Guia street circuit in 2018.
The first of those wins was scored by Jean-Karl Vernay, who this year has remained part of a stable line-up at WRT’s Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport squad alongside three-time British Touring Car champion Gordon Shedden, while race two winner Frédéric Vervisch is partnered at Comtoyou Team Audi Sport by Dutch driver Niels Langeveld.
Comtoyou is also representing the Cupra brand this year, and its pair of cars under the DHL Team Cupra Racing banner are driven by the popular Tom Coronel and Aurélien Panis. Further Cupra representation comes in the form of the Swedish PWR Racing team, which fields Daniel Haglöf and rookie sensation Mikel Azcona.
Ma Qing Hua has been a revelation in Team Mulsanne’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce this season, winning one race and scoring three other podiums. The Chinese driver – partnered by Kevin Ceccon – will be looking to build on a previous best finish of eighth in Macao.