Macau Report

Macau bites back

The famous Macau street circuit lived upto its reputation during the final WTCC meeting of the 2009 season, as the challenging 6.1 km track claimed more than a few big names over the course of the weekend.  Tom Boardman claimed his seventh podium finish of the season in Race 1, but suffered an accident in Race 2 that saw triple World Champion Andy Priaulx drive underneath the Special Tuning run SEAT Leon!

The race weekend starts early in Macau with first Test session held on Thursday, and Free Practice and Qualifying on the Friday. There is no ontrack action for the WTCC cars on Saturday, the Races still taking place on the Sunday as normal. The early sessions went well for the Lancashire driver as he gradually got to grips with this unique circuit, which allows no room for error. Never an easy circuit for drivers on their first visit, Tom did an excellent job in qualifying, impressing many with his speed, to line up fourth Independent.

As the field  charged away from the rolling start for Race 1, creating an impressive site as they reached speeds of upto 250kph before the first braking point,  Tom was able to pass a couple of Factory cars and held his position in the Independents class. By the end of the third lap he had moved up to 3rd in class and was putting the BMW of Felix Porteiro under pressure. However the BMW driver was able to hold on, as Tom sensibly ensured that he finished on the podium once again, in what has been a very strong second half of the season.

The standing start for Race 2 should have given the BMW cars around the SEAT an advantage off the line, but Tom, always a good starter, was able to not only hold off the BMW's behind him, but also get ahead of fellow SEAT driver Tom Coronel. Some minor setup changes by the Special Tuning team during the 15 minutes between the races had given the car a little more pace and Boardman was now able to take the fight for the lead to Porteiro. However on lap 3 the Macau track bit back, a tiny mistake and minor touch of the barrier turned into a big accident as the car was sent across the track and backwards into the wall on the other side. "I turned in just a fraction too early, and the front wheel just touched the barrier, but here that's enough to end your race. Very disapointed to end the year like this, but we've shown that we're quick and can win at this level".