41st Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Legendary MV Agusta in Frame for Macau Debut The MV Agusta, a legend in Italian motorcycle history, could be set to make its Macau debut this November, with Irish regular Martin Finnegan on board. Steeped in history, the Agusta story goes back to 1907, when Giovanni Agusta, a pioneer in the fledgling Italian aeronautics industry, founded what was then an aircraft company. Upon his death in 1927, his wife and son decided to shift manufacture to motorcycles. World War II interrupted production but in 1945 the first MV Agusta was unveiled, and the following year the marque began competing on a regular basis. When the founder’s son Count Domenico died in the early 1970’s, the company was forced into a dramatic restructuring, and one of the repercussions was the decision to abandon motorcycle production. The dashing Giacomo Agostini, who won 10 Isle of Man TT races all on MV Agustas, took the legendary motorcycle to its final victory at the Nurburgring in 1976. In 1986 the company was briefly, but dramatically, back in the news when a trade advertisement for the sale of bikes, prototypes, bodies and engines from the company’s legendary racing division resulted in calls by the Italian media for government intervention to protect what was considered by many to be part of the nation’s heritage. However, the calls went unheeded, but in 1992 the company rose from the ashes when the trademark was purchased by the Castiglioni group. Claudio Castiglioni decided to build a new engine for the motorcycle almost from scratch, while the design was placed in the capable hands of Massimo Tamburini, a master with many years experience with BIMOTA (a name derived from “Bianchi, Morri, Tamburini”). The new prototype was completed in 1997 the MV Agusta F4, and in 1999 the F4 Gold Series, with a top speed of 280kph, was in action at Italy’s Monza circuit for the first time. So impressive was the motorcycle that it was immediately snapped up by the rich and famous, including King Juan Carlos of Spain and Eddie Jordan. Most recently, Carl Fogarty has voiced hopes to campaign an MV Agusta in next season’s World Superbike Championship, and the sight of the legendary motorcycle on Macau’s Guia Street circuit for the first time this year would definitely be one for the history books. Fastest Ever Roads Lap for John McGuinness John McGuinness proved his skill on the world’s fastest street circuits yet again when he set the fastest-ever roads lap at the Dundrod 150 race in Northern Ireland recently. His scorching lap at 131.72mph was the fastest lap speed among all the traditional road events, despite the field running in a mass start and not against the clock as in the Isle of Man. However, he missed out on victory by just 0.01s to another Macau regular and his arch rival Guy Martin. McGuinness’ HM Plant Honda team mate and 3rd place finisher at Macau last year Ian Hutchinson was third. McGuinness Honoured The achievements of Macau regular John McGuiness have been recognised by the City of Lancaster in the UK. The rider, who won in Macau in 2001, has finished on the podium no fewer than six times, and holds 13 Isle of Man TT victories, was made an Honorary Freeman of the City. McGuiness is just the tenth person and the only sportsman to be granted the honour, which is bestowed upon those who have served in an exceptional capacity. 54th Macau Grand Prix PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME – 15th ~ 18th November 2007 15th of November 2007 (Thursday) 06:00 Circuit Closed 06:30 07:00 Circuit Inspection 07:30 08:15 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – 41st Edition Practice 08:40 09:10 Macao Tourism Office Cup Practice 09:35 10:05 Hotel Fortuna Trophy Practice 10:30 11:00 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Race Practice 11:25 11:55 CTM Cup Practice 12:25 12:55 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Practice 13:20 13:50 FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau Testing 14:15 15:00 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Race – Qualifying 15:30 16:15 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix 41st Edition – Qualifying 18:30 ** Circuit Opened 16th of November 2007 (Friday) 06:00 Circuit Closed 06:30 07:00 Circuit Inspection 07:30 08:30 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix 41st Edition – Qualifying 08:45 09:15 FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau – Practice 09:40 10:10 Hotel Fortuna Trophy Qualifying 10:35 11:05 Macao Tourism Office Cup – Qualifying 11:30 12:00 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Race – Practice 12:20 12:50 FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau – Practice 13:15 13:45 CTM Cup Qualifying 14:10 14:40 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia – Qualifying 15:05 15:50 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Race – Qualifying 16:15 17:00 FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau – Qualifying 18:30 ** Circuit Opened 17th of November 2007 (Saturday) 06:00 Circuit Closed 06:30 07:00 Circuit Inspection 07:30 08:00 5th MGPC Scooters Cup – Timed Practice 08:10 08:30 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix 41st Edition – Warm Up 08:55 09:45 Macao Tourism Office Cup – 10 laps 10:10 11:00 Hotel Fortuna Trophy – 10 laps 11:25 12:35 CTM Cup – 15 laps 13:20 14:10 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Race – Qualification Race – 10 laps 14:50 15:50 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – 41st Edition – 15 laps 16:10 16:40 5th MGPC Scooters Cup – 5 laps 18:30 ** Circuit Opened 18th of November 2007 (Sunday) 06:00 Circuit Closed 06:30 07:00 Circuit Inspection 08:00 08:15 FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau – Warm Up 08:35 08:55 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Race – Warm Up 09:25 10:15 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia – 10 laps 10:35 11:25 Special Event 11:35 13:45 FIA WTCC – Guia Race of Macau – 2 Races of 9 laps each with 15 minutes break between Races 13:55 14:45 Special Event 15:05 15:20 Lion Dance 15:35 16:35 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Race – 15 laps 18:30 ** Circuit Opened * Organizer reserves the right to re-schedule the programme without prior notice. (**) If the circuit opens before the scheduled time, an announcement will be made.