When Ayrton Senna won the Macau GP in 1983

A yellow helmet speeding through the alleys of a city-state, all aboard a car adorned with the red and white colors of a famous American tobacco company. No, we are not telling you about one of Ayrton Senna's successes in Monaco in a McLaren, but just as fundamental: that gleaned during the 1983 Macau Grand Prix.

“Senna without pity”. This is what AUTO headlinedhebdo in its December 8 edition (Ah n°398). A fairly accurate summary of the events, since the Brazilian took pole position before dominating the qualifying heat as well as the main race. However, 35 years later, this historic weekend deserves a new light, in the light of the little secrets of the paddocks.

First of all, the 1983 edition marks a turning point in the history of the Macau Grand Prix. A year earlier, the organizers grimaced when they saw the spectacle offered by the Formula Pacific, supposed to be the highlight of the show. Also called Formula Atlantic in the United States, these single-seaters no longer attract young upstarts and only bring together a panel of drivers with heterogeneous talents: the 10th on the grid concedes 7" to the poleman in qualifying and only four competitors finish in the winner's turn.

To avoid falling into disrepair, Barry Bland, one of the kingpins of the event, proposed to the Macanese municipality to swap the Formula Pacifics for Formula 2. But being more powerful and bulky, to accommodate them, the Guia circuit (whose length of 6,120 km has remained the same until now) must be modified.

A row of trees had to be cut down and the track widened around the Lisboa bend, at the end of a straight line of several kilometers. Problem, at the time, there were not yet all the adjoining hotels and the circuit ended up on the shore of the China Sea. It is then impossible to carry out this work. The choice ultimately comes down to the F3, smaller and less powerful (165 hp), but above all do not require any modification to the track.

Opportunity being the thief, Teddy Yip, an eminent Indonesian businessman, owner of the Theodore Racing team and a figure in Macanese commerce, succeeded in bringing together the cream of European F3. The Macau Grand Prix already takes on the role of a gala thanks to its late position in the calendar (the third weekend of November, a tradition which continues today). For the 25 participants, this event is the ideal opportunity to assert themselves against the world references of the discipline with a view to racing in F1.

A. Senna with Theodore Racing boss, Teddy Yip. © WRI2/J.-F. Galleron

In paddocks set up in a relaxed setting, no less than 15 nationalities rub shoulders. All eyes are on German F3 champion Franz Konrad (Volkswagen), as well as Pierluigi Martini (Pavesi), titled in F3 Europe a few weeks earlier. France has two maps with diametrically opposed profiles. At 35 years old, Jean-Louis Schlesser (David Price Racing), is well known in high circles (2nd in the 24 Hours of Le Mans the previous year, test driver Williams F1), while Cathy Muller (21 years old), supported by Elf, is on the rise.

We will have to wait… 31 years before another woman competes against men in Macau, in the person of Tatiana Calderon in 2014. New to the field of management, Eddie Jordan trusts Martin Brundle and Roberto Guerrero. At home, Theodore Racing took over the newly minted British F3 champion, Ayrton Senna. In short, there are some beautiful linens.

Night spree

However, the 23-year-old Brazilian spent the first days... in the gas. The young man set foot on land in the former Portuguese colony on Wednesday evening, the day before the first laps of the wheels. It is therefore impossible for him to discover the specifics of the circuit on the trot. Lack of seriousness? In reality, Ayrton Senna took part in a private test session with Brabham at Paul-Ricard (Var) at the start of the week, along with Martin Brundle and Roberto Guerrero. Tired, he explained to the BBC on Sunday that he had difficulty getting used to “jet lag”, and suffer " heat ".

Tired, Ayrton Senna, however, puts everyone in agreement by slamming the pole on Friday, ahead of Roberto Guerrero by 0, who is in his second participation. Not bad for a sufferer. The future three-time F16 champion seems to have been rather captivated by the charms of “city of indulgence”, as the English poet WH Auden politely pointed out.

In other words, Senna, according to his track engineer Jo Ramirez – who would later accompany him to McLaren – would have gone crazy on Friday evening! “Ayrton admitted to me that he had been to a party, he stayed late and he may have consumed too much vodka”, writes the Mexican in his autobiography (Jo Ramirez: Memoirs of a racing man, untranslated). The person concerned has never commented on this possible misdeed, but several clues point in favor of this scenario.

Sunday is shopping day, plural. As usual, two events were held, except that at the time, the final ranking was determined based on an average of the two results. But it becomes clear that Ayrton Senna is not in his right mind. « I was very sick this morning, in the warm-up, I felt bad”, he will simply explain, still to the BBC. Perhaps poorly awakened, the one who was not yet nicknamed “Magic” misses his flight. “In the first straight, Roberto overtook me thanks to an efficient start, he will explain on camera. 

Then, he took a very interior trajectory in order to block the passage. I got into his game, I forced him to swerve even more towards the inside of the first turn, then I took the outside. I got into the corner much faster than him. He had to slow down even more, and coming out of the curve, I still had more speed than him. » Despite his experience, Guerrero will never regain the advantage.

"I thought to myself, 'Where the hell did he come from like that?' "At least I led the race for a turn", will let go of the latter. These defeatist and incredulous words will be corroborated during the second round... after Ayrton Senna took a little nap in his hotel room, just to cope.

Metronomic

In an abnormally welcoming climate for this time of year, the Brazilian (emigrated to England for three years) avoids heatstroke. Once again placed at the front of the peloton, he had a much better start. The record of the times reveals remarkable consistency despite the length of the route and the youth of the Brazilian. Over a series of nine consecutive laps, the Theodore Racing driver runs in a range of 0”5 (from 2’22”0 to 2’22”5).

Soaked by a good champagne shower, Ayrton Senna then delivered a laconic post-race commentary, worthy of the rehearsed speeches of F1 actors. “I tried to quickly create a small gap, just to be calm. Just towards the end of the race, Davy Jones (Murray Taylor Racing) had an accident on a slow corner.

It was quite dangerous, because I arrived at the crash scene without realizing there was a wreck. Suddenly, there she was, right in the middle of the trail, but I avoided her. Other than that, everything was OK. The car was fantastic, my team worked hard, gave me an ideal car and we won. » It seems so simple...

Alongside him on the podium, we found Roberto Guerrero (who would collect four wins in Cart) and Gerhard Berger. The latter remembers this ordeal as “a nerve center” for his career. “I was very young (24 years old, which currently corresponds to an advanced age for an F3 driver. Editor’s note), no one took me seriously because I mainly participated in the German championship, remembers the Austrian, author of the best lap in the race. The reference was the British competition, where Ayrton Senna beat Martin Brundle. Thanks to this 3rd place, I was considered differently. »

On the Frenchies side, Jean-Louis Schlesser finished the first race in 10th place, after a fierce battle with the Swiss Mario Hytten (Murray Taylor Racing). The future specialist in rally-raid will conclude the weekend in 7th place. As for Cathy Muller, she counterbalanced an average qualification (20th) with two consistent rounds (12th each time).

Thirty-six years later, Macau has become a must for any F1 aspirant. In 2020, of the 20 drivers entered in the premier discipline, 16 experienced the joys and sorrows of Asian Las Vegas.

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