Macau GP Stats

Macau GP Records and Stats 

The first ever Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix took place in 1967 with race winner Hiroshi Hasegawa completing the 30-lap race in just under two hours and at an average speed of 60.22mph. The race remained over this distance for the next 12 years and speeds naturally increased during this period; indeed, just two years later the race was won at an average speed of just over 64mph.

In 1973, Ken Araoka set a new lap record of 2m56.68s, a speed of 77.43mph, and became the first rider to lap the Guia circuit in under three minutes. Four years later, British rider Mick Grant smashed that mark lapping some eight seconds quicker and recording a speed of 81.24mph, the first rider to break the 80mph barrier.

British Riders 

British riders were now in the ascendancy and the 1980s saw Charlie Williams and Ron Haslam both set outright lap records. However, GP ace Kevin Schwantz stole it from them in 1988 when he dominated the two legs on his Pepsi Suzuki. German Superbike rider Peter Rubatto became the first mainland Europe rider to hold the record in 1990 but he only held it for a year before another Grand Prix rider Didier de Radigues set a lap of 87.76mph in 1991.

Milestones set

Speeds were edging ever closer to the 90mph mark throughout the 1990s and although 500cc bikes continued to be present, in the hands of riders including Carl Fogarty, Steve Hislop and Mike Edwards, it was Michael Rutter and the Honda RC45 750cc Honda that finally achieved the mark in 1998 with a speed of 90.74mph.

The next milestone was the first sub 2m30m lap and it came just three years later with race winner John McGuinness posting a lap of 2m29.173s, 91.77mph. Rutter took the record back in 2003 but it was 2006 that saw a major jump in times with Steve Plater taking over two seconds off Rutter’s time. A year later, McGuinness shaved a further second and a half off the time and we were now close to a sub 2m25s lap.

That came in 2010 with Stuart Easton having that particular honour and not only does this remain the outright lap record, it also remains the only lap of the 3.8-mile circuit to be completed at more than 95mph. Meanwhile, Glenn Irwin recorded the fastest ever lap by a newcomer in 2016, and a year later he unofficially broke Easton’s lap record in qualifying by half a second. He didn’t quite get close to it in the shortened race but did move from seventh fastest to third overall whilst his win in 2017 was the first by a Northern Irishman since Phillip McCallen in 1996.

Times have remained relatively stagnant in recent years but former 125cc/Moto3 Grand Prix rider Danny Webb was a major mover in 2018 going from 30^th to ninth quickest after an impressive ride to fourth. David Johnson also improved whilst newcomer Davey Todd again showed his potential, finishing in ninth place.

A number of riders looked set to improve their times in 2019, David Johnson and Lee Johnston being two notable examples, but with the race stopped, restarted, and then stopped again, the official result was just for a one lap race so no improvements were made.

However, victory in 2022 saw Erno Kostamo move into the top twenty whilst a full, competitive field in 2023 saw Todd move up to fifth quickest. David Datzer and newcomer Josh Brookes both moved up inside the top 25 fastest riders with the latter deposing Johnson as the fastest ever Australian rider around the Guia circuit.

Current records that are held at the Macau GP include:

Outright lap record
Stuart Easton (Kawasaki ZX-10R) – 2m23.616s – 95.32mph – 2010

Supersport 600cc lap record
Steve Allan (Kawasaki ZX-6R) – 2m31.625s – 90.22mph – 2005

Fastest riders 

	Rider	Machine	Year	Time	Speed
1.	Stuart Easton	1000 Kawasaki	2010	2m23.616s	95.32mph
2.	Michael Rutter	1098 Ducati	2010	2m24.070s	94.96mph
3.	Glen Irwin	1199 Ducati	2017	2m24.094s	94.194mph
4.	Peter Hickman	1000 BMW	2017	2m24.301s	94.80mph
5.	Davey Todd	1000 BMW	2023	2m24.880s	94.42mph
6.	Martin Jessopp	1000 BMW	2016	2m24.931s	94.17mph
7.	Jeremy Toye	1000 BMW	2010	2m25.112s	94.28mph
8.	Ian Hutchinson	1000 Yamaha	2013	2m25.419s	94.14mph
9.	Gary Johnson	1000 Suzuki	2010	2m25.803s	93.84mph
10	Danny Webb	1000 BMW	2018	2m25.841s	93.80mph
11.	John McGuinness	1000 Honda	2007	2m26.096s	93.70mph
12.	Conor Cummins	1000 Kawasaki	2009	2m26.251s	93.54mph
13.	Simon Andrews	1000 Kawasaki	2010	2m26.286s	93.52mph
14.	Steve Plater	1000 Yamaha	2007	2m26.415s	93.51mph
15.	Horst Saiger	1000 Kawasaki	2016	2m26.676s	93.27mph
16.	Thomas Hinterreiter	1000 Yamaha	2007	2m26.820s	93.17mph
17.	Erno Kostamo	1000 BMW	2023	2m26.884s	93.13mph
18.	Dean Harrison	1000 Kawasaki	2017	2m26.933s	93.10mph
19.	David Datzer	1000 BMW	2023	2m27.196s	92.94mph
20.	Rico Penzkofer	1000 BMW	2009	2m27.208s	92.73mph
21.	Josh Brookes	1000 BMW	2023	2m27.414s	92.80mph
22.	David Johnson	1000 BMW	2018	2m27.514s	92 74mph
23.	Jimmy Storrar	1000 BMW	2013	2m27.567s	92.70mph
24.	Cameron Donald	1000 Suzuki	2008	2m28.233s	92.29mph
25.	Derek Sheils	1000 Suzuki	2016	2m28.242s	92.28mph

The undisputed King of Macau is without a shadow of doubt Michael Rutter. Not only is he the most successful in terms of outright wins, with nine, he’s also stepped onto the podium comfortably more times than any other rider.

Indeed, Rutter has more than twice the total of second placed John McGuinness, with the Midlands rider taking his 20^th podium with a ninth win in 2019 (albeit in controversial circumstances with the result declared after just one lap) and given he’s now attended the event on 26 occasions, that’s an extremely impressive conversion rate.

McGuinness at Macau

McGuinness has been going to Macau almost as long as Rutter with 21 visits and although his one and only win at the event came back in 2001, he’s managed eight podiums in total. However, despite continuing to rack up leaderboard positions, you have to go back to 2008 to find the last time he stepped onto the podium.

First held in 1967, five  riders have taken six podiums at the Far East venue, Phillip McCallen, Ron Haslam, Japanese rider Sadao Asami, Marin Jessopp and Peter Hickman. All of Haslam’s rostrums were race wins as he took six victories between 1981 and 1987, the only absence being 1984 when he missed the event.

Asami, a star of the 750cc and 350cc World Championships in the late 1970s, took third in both 1974 and 1975 before taking a hat-trick of victories between 1978 and 1980, the first rider to achieve such a feat. He was knocked off his lofty perch by Haslam in 1981 though and that second place proved to be his final rostrum appearance at the Guia circuit.

McCallen, like all of the other road races he competed in, was always a potential race winner although he only managed this once at Macau, in 1996. However, he took second in 1989, 1995 and 1997 and third in ’91 and ’94.

The most recent rider to move onto six podiums is Hickman, the English rider’s first podium in 2015 when he won for the first time. Further victories came in 2016, 2018 and 2023 with second place finishes taken in both 2017 and 2019 although he was leading the original race in the latter by some seven seconds before it was stopped!

Next up is Stuart Easton with five podiums, four of those being race wins in 2008-10 and 2014. His other appearance on the rostrum came in 2004 when he rode the 999 Monstermob Ducati.

The rest of the top ten is filled out by riders who have taken four rostrums – Ian Hutchinson, Steve Hislop, David Jefferies and Akira Terui. Hislop took third in 1989 before claiming a hat-trick of wins in 1990, 1993 and 1994, the final two on 500cc ROC and Harris Yamaha’s. Hutchinson and Jefferies have a win apiece to their name whilst Japanese rider Terui also took four podiums, but no win, between 1972 and 1977 just before the European riders started to dominate.

Meanwhile, Hickman became only the sixth rider to have won the race on three occasions or more in 2018 when he won the race for the third time in four years as he also took his fourth successive podium. He matched Easton’s tally of four wins in 2023.

Leading Winners (two or more) 

	Rider	Wins
	Michael Rutter	9 (1998-2019)
	Ron Haslam	6 (1981 – 1987)
	Stuart Easton	4 (2008 – 2014)
	Peter Hickman	4 (2015-2023)
	Sadao Asami	3 (1978-1980)
	Steve Hislop	3 (1990 – 1994)
	Hiroshi Hasegawa	2 (1967 – 1968)
	Mick Grant	2 (1977 – 1984)
	Steve Plater	2 (2006 – 2007)

Leading podium finishers (four or more)

	Rider	Podiums
	Michael Rutter	20 (1996 – 2019)
	John McGuinness	8 (1998 – 2008)
	Sadao Asami	6 (1975 – 1981)
	Ron Haslam	6 (1981 – 1987)
	Phillip McCallen	6 (1989 – 1997)
	Martin Jessopp	6 (2011 – 2018)
	Peter Hickman	6 (2015 – 2023)
	Stuart Easton	5 (2004-2014)
	Akira Terui	4 (1972 – 1977)
	Steve Hislop	4 (1989 – 1994)
	David Jefferies	4 (1999 – 2002)
	Ian Hutchinson	4(2006-2015)

Some impressive stats from the Macau GP over the years, now find out more about the riders in our Hall of Fame. 

Statistical information provided by Phil Wain.