Richard Britton Racing
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05th November 2004
Macau
British dominance in the 51st Macau Grand Prix looks set to continue with Richard Britton being amongst many of the top British and Irish riders who will be looking to stamp their authority on the 6.2km Guia Circuit.
Motorcycles were added to the Macau Grand Prix in 1967 when Japans Hiroshi Hasegawa took his Yamaha to the first two wheeled win.
But in the 37 years since the bikes where introduced, 22 years of those have been won by either British or Irish riders. Former 500 Grand Prix contender Ron Haslem is the most successful rider ever around the streets of Macau with no less than six victories all on Honda machinery. But Birmingham's Michael Rutter is closing in on that grand tally and should he be successful this year on the HM Plant Honda CBR1000, he will just be one win away from equalling Haslems record.
Chas Mortimer was the first British winner in 1976 on a Yamaha with Mick Grant taking the Far East win in 1977 on his Team Kawasaki 750.
Ron Haslem then started his run of wins in 1981-82-83-85-86 and 87 all on Honda machinery with that man Grant spoiling the party for Haslem in 1984 when he won on a Suzuki.
Ballymoneys Robert Dunlop took a hard fought win on Patsy O' Kane’s RC30 in 1989 before Scotsman Steve Hislop became king of Macau in 1990 also on a RC30 Honda. Former World Superbike Champion Carl Forgarty took the win on the Loctite Yamaha in 1992 with Hislop again winning in 93 and 94 also on Yamaha's.
Mike Edwards was the surprise winner in 1995 on a Yamaha before Portadowns Phillip McCallen took his only Macau race win on a Harris 500 Yamaha. 1998 saw the first of Michael Rutters wins on a Honda with new kid on the bloke David Jeffries taking the 1999 win.
Rutter bounced back to the flag first in 2000 while John McGuinness took a brilliant win in 2002. Rutter then gave Ducati their first Macau Gp win in 2003 before repeating that again also on a Ducati in 2003. Yamaha takes the lead in the manufactures table with 19 Macau GP wins with Honda on 10 - Suzuki on 4 - and both Kawasaki and Ducati on two apiece.
The maximum width of the circuit is 14m while the narrowest section is just 7mts wide.
