Macau reminds us why calling it the “eastern Monaco” is being kind

While most would list down the Monaco Grand Prix and the Isle of Man TT as some of the most death-defying races of our time, an inconspicuous absentee from that list that should supersede the duo is the Macau Grand Prix.

It’s a street circuit with faster speeds and crazier drivers that never fails to deliver some of the most insane crashes you will witness. The latest edition came to a conclusion the last weekend and it saw a driver defy death after a highspeed head-on collision.

Ya Qi Zhang didn’t make the flat-out Mandarin Oriental Bend during the 15-minute warm-up session prior to the first Sands China Macau GT Cup race. His Audi R8 LMS GT3 of the Tianshi Racing Team catapulted into the barrier and obliterated the front end of the machine; leaving debris scattered across the track and bringing out the red flag.

The crash left Zhang with multiple broken ribs as well as a lightly bruised and collapsed lung. However, having survived the impact is testament to the safety of modern racecars and he’s expected to make a full recovery.

This wasn’t Zhang’s first crash of the weekend as he made contact with the barriers at the slower Maternity Bend around the mountain section. Nonetheless, damage was limited and he limped his R8 back to the pits.

The Mandarin Oriental Bend might appear to be easy on paper but the flat-out nature of the kink makes it one of the most dangerous sections of the 6.1 km Guia Circuit. It was the site of the Grand Prix’s most recent race fatality as Phillip Yau Wing-choi lost his life during a qualifying session for the CTM Macau Touring Car Cup round back in 2012.

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Race organisers took steps to reduce the risk at the kink, widening the bend and installing safer barriers at the exit in the event of an impact. This might have very well been the difference between life and death for Zhang as the barriers absorbed the crash impact better.

The Macau Grand Prix this year lacked much fanfare and any international participation as Macau imposes a 21-day quarantine restriction upon entering. Organisers left out the superbike race and replaced the Formula Three round with a Chinese Formula Four race instead. Even the GT3 and touring car field comprised local entries only.