Weekend Preview: 21-22 November 2009

This is the final Weekend Preview of the season, thanks for reading and I hope these posts have been useful!

Windsor Arch 56th Macau Grand Prix

– Guia Circuit, Macau, PRC
– www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo/app/home/gp56/en
– Live Timing from MST (note this link is for all non-WTCC races at the circuit this week)
– with WTCC (see below), FBMW Pacific and a host of regional championships

The classic Formula 3 event attracts competitors from the Euroseries and the Japanese and British series, I am not sure if the Australians also attend? I am always surprised at how fast the F3 cars look at this course, the long straight sections mean the cars are in high gearing, low downforce trim which while fast on the open road, the drivers have to struggle with through the narrow twisty part of the track.

The Macau Grand Prix format for F3 is for a 10-lap Qualification Race on Saturday at 1.45pm Macau time, followed by the 15-lap Grand Prix on Sunday at 3.30pm their time. That’s about 4.30am here… I think.

I can’t find any live UK TV coverage!
I can’t find any recorded coverage either.

FIA World Touring Car Championship

– Marriott Race of Macau
– Guia Circuit, Macau, PRC
– www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo/app/home/gp56/en
– and www.fiawtcc.com
– Live Timing from MST (WTCC only, for F3 use the link in the Macau GP section above)
– Final round

The usual format of two equal-length races on Sunday of just 9 laps each around this long circuit, that’s good for the normal race time of about 25 minutes. It might be short but there’s action all the way at Macau!

This is Tom Coronel in the 2007 race.

UK TV: There is continuous coverage encompassing both races from 4am UK time, with only a short break between races (which is utterly crazy with the damage this place can cause). It is repeated at 11.35am on Eurosport 2.

NASCAR Sprint Cup

– Ford 400
– Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida, USA
– www.nascar.com
– UK TV: SKY SPORTS XTRA at 8pm Sunday
– US TV: LIVE on ABC at 2.30pm ET Sunday

Jimmie Johnson holds a large points lead going into the final round of the long, long NASCAR year. He’s pretty much guaranteed unless there’s one of those famous crashes all the “fans” apparently want to see, although since they pay points just for turning up perhaps they should give him the Cup now…

NASCAR Nationwide Series

– Ford 300
– Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida, USA
– www.nascar.com
– US TV: LIVE on ESPN2 at 4pm ET Saturday (not covered in UK)

Speaking of just turning up, Kyle Busch only needs to start this race to secure the 2nd tier title.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

– Ford 200
– Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida, USA
– www.nascar.com
– US TV: LIVE on SPEED at 7.30pm ET Friday (not covered in UK)

I know nothing of this series and I’m not sure I know anyone who does..

Intercontinental Rally Challenge

– Rally of Scotland
– Perth to Stirling, Scotland
– www.ircseries.com

This is the IRC’s maiden visit to the UK. There will be updates throughout the weekend on Eurosport including live stages! Tune at 8.45am and 4pm Friday, 9am and 1.45pm Saturday, and 6am and 7.15pm Sunday.

Australian V8 Supercars

– Barbagallo, Australia
– www.v8supercar.com.au
– Penultimate round

Weekend Preview 5-6 December 2009

Just for completeness, the final round of V8s is in two weeks’ time:

Australian V8 Supercars

– Oran Park, Australia
– www.v8supercar.com.au

That’s it! After these races the 2009 season is over. The first event of 2010 is the Dakar which is in South America again in early January, then the IRC opens the ‘regular’ season with the Monte Carlo Rally on the weekend of the 23rd. The first circuit race of note is the Daytona 24 Hours at the end of January, a mere two months away.

Thanks to the following sources this season:
FORIX;
Autosport magazine;
RadioTimes.com;
LiveSportOnTV.com;