Sunday race for Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix after further schedule disruption

The session was due to take place originally on Thursday but was pushed back by 24 hours because of inclement weather caused by a tropical storm off the coast of Macau in the South China Sea.

However, the organisers ran out of time to run the 45-minute session after seven red flag incidents during qualifying for the FIA Formula Regional cars led to an elongated session.

With light also beginning to fade late in the afternoon, there was no action for the bikes and instead, a revamped running order was put in place.

Free practice will take place over an hour on Saturday morning from 7:20am local time (23:20 GMT) followed shortly after by a qualifying session – also over one hour – from 8:50am (00:50 GMT).

The 56th edition of the famous motorcycle race on Sunday is scheduled for 8am (00:00 GMT) over 12 laps of the 3.8-mile Guia street course following a 20-minute warm-up.

Top names including FHO Racing BMW riders Peter Hickman and Davey Todd are set to fight it out for victory, with Michael Rutter – the most successful rider ever at Macau with nine victories – also entering the podium mix.

Finland’s Erno Kostamo, who won the race in 2022 when many of the leading riders were absent because of prohibitive Covid restrictions, is another of the key contenders.

Magherafelt man Paul Jordan is the only representative from Ireland competing in the race for the Jackson Racing Honda team.

Kostamo is set to race at next year’s Briggs Equipment North West 200 along with fellow International Road Racing Championship (IRRC) riders Laurent Hoffman and Luca Gottardi, who are also competing in Macau this weekend.

The European trio had discussions with NW200 race boss Mervyn Whyte in Macau this week, who has been undertaking a liaison role between the teams and riders on behalf of the Macau GP organising committee.

Whyte said: “The NW200 and the Macau Grand Prix have enjoyed a strong working relationship over many years.

“This week we have been liaising between the teams and riders on behalf of the Macau organisers.

“The relationship we share is strong and well established and provides us with an opportunity to engage with leading international teams and riders as we seek to attract the finest road racers in the world to the north coast each May.”