Steve Plater was acclaimed King of Macau after winning the Macau Grand Prix for the second year in succession. His AIM teammate Steve Allan won the Supersport 600 class, making it a double celebration for the team who has gone into the record books as the first team to win both the Superbike and Supersport races at the same time. Plater, from Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire had completed first qualifying on provisional pole but was forced out of the final session on Friday with a misfire to the AIM Yamaha R1. Although he was unable to post a competitive time in the final session, his previous time was sufficient to claim fourth place on the grid for Saturday’s 15-lap race. “I was under the lap record in morning warm-up,” said Plater. “And knew I could lap quicker in the race once half the fuel load had gone so am feeling confident. As long as the misfire doesn’t return I should be there or thereabouts and although I don’t like to make predictions about the result, if I don’t win today then whoever does will have to earn it!!” As the lights heralded the start it was John McGuinness who got the hole shot but Plater was quick to anticipate the lights and moved straight into third place before passing Michael Rutter at the fast Mandarin corner and then attacked McGuinness for the race lead. “I didn’t want John to take charge of the race,” said Plater. “So I passed him at San Francisco Hill and was able to control the pace from then on.” Lap two saw McGuinness regain the lead and the pair began to pull away from the pursuing pack. But Plater used every inch of the track in an effort to stick with the multi-TT winner and forged back ahead at the hairpin on lap three. “I put in three very fast laps, all a second under the existing record but John stuck with me,” said the 35-year-old race ace. Steve held onto his slender lead for the remainder of the race, the gap between himself and McGuinness remaining under a second. But on the final lap the pair encountered some backmarkers as they approached the hairpin. Plater timed it to perfection, attacking the backmarkers at just the right place and shot past and onto the finish where he took the chequered flag for his second win in as many years with a four second advantage over McGuinness. “I knew we’d come across back markers at the end so prepared to attack in the right places leaving me a gap at the end and it worked to perfection,” said a jubilant Steve Plater. “I suffered with arm pump throughout the race due to my injuries from Qatar last week, which made it very hard to feel the throttle and front brake lever. But I managed to relax wherever possible so I remained strong till the end. “This is a mega end to season for me and also for AIM and Yamaha who have won both the Superbike and Supersport classes, which I think is the first time a team has won both!” More, from a press release issued by Stobart Motorsport: McGuinness Denied Victory In Macau Stobart VK Vent Axia Honda rider John McGuinness was denied victory by the cruellest of fortunes in today’s 41st running of the Macau Grand Prix where he had to settle for second place. The 34 year old from Morecambe was riding for the Paul Bird Motorsport team in the Far Eastern classic and was holding a slender lead when on the fifteenth and final lap, the 13 times TT winner came upon some backmarkers at the Melco Hairpin. The 2001 winner had to shut off the throttle to avoid a collision which allowed rival Steve Plater through to snatch his second successive victory leaving a bitterly disappointed McGuinness with the consolation of a new lap record. For team mate and fellow TT winner Ian Hutchinson, it was a tale of disappointment aboard the second of the Phil Borley-prepared Honda Fireblades. Now recovered from a recently broken collarbone, the young Yorkshireman was well in contention when his bike developed a misfire, which was later traced to faulty fuel, and as a result, he was forced to retire. Team owner Paul Bird, currently on holiday in Mauritius, commented: “I really feel for the team out there, they’ve done a fantastic job and both John and Ian have been incredibly unlucky. Once again, they proved that they were the men to beat in practice and to come away without a win is soul destroying. But then again, John never seems to have any luck out there, I’ve told them both to go and drown their sorrows!” Result: 1 Steve Plater GB – (AIM Yamaha) 37:03.845 2 John McGuinness GB – (Stobart VK Vent Axia Honda) 37:07.965 3 Thomas Hinterreiter AUT – (Austria Racing Team Yamaha) 37:14.236 4 Jeremy Toye – USA (Lee’s Cycles Suzuki) 37:45.996 5 Conor Cummins – IOM (DMR Yamaha) 37:49.495 6 Mark Miller – USA (Corona Extra Honda) 37:54.405 7 Les Shand GB (Honda – BTS Honda) 38:01.092 8 James McBride GB (JV Yamaha) 38:09.873 9 Luis Carreira POR (Benimoto Yoshimura Suzuki) 38:13.825 10 Martin Finnegan IRL (MV Agusta) 38:14.274