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2018 Macau GP: Race weekend stats, facts and pub ammo

The first running of the Macau Grand Prix took place in 1967 with Japan’s Hiroshi Hasegawa completing 30 laps of the Guia circuit on his Yamaha RD56 in a time of 1hr 53m34s.

The 12-lap race in 2016 was completed in the considerably shorter time of 29m15.590s.

After initially being run over a single 30-lap race, the Grand Prix was held over two 15-lap legs from 1979 until 1995 when it reverted back to a single race format of 15 laps. It is now held over just 12 laps.

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The first nine races were won by Japanese, Hong Kong and Indonesian riders and it was British ace Chas Mortimer who finally broke the Japanese stranglehold with victory in 1976. This was also the first time a European rider had stood on the podium.

England have the most wins (26) followed by Japan (10), Scotland (7, all by riders from the same village called Hawick), Northern Ireland (3) and Hong Kong, Indonesia, USA, Belgium and Switzerland (all 1).

Michael Rutter has the most wins with 8 followed by Ron Haslam (6), Stuart Easton (4), Sadao Asami and Steve Hislop (3) and Hiroshi Hasegawa, Mick Grant, Steve Plater and Peter Hickman (all 2).

Rutter’s victories span 14 years having first won in 1998 and his most recent coming in 2012.

Asami was the first rider to win three races in a row when he completed his hat-trick in 1980 after being victorious in 1978, 1979 and 1980.

This feat was matched by Ron Haslam (1981-1983 and 1985-1987) and Stuart Easton (2008-2010).

However, Rutter bettered this in 2005 when he became the first and only rider to win the race four years in a row, 2002-2005.

Rutter also has the most podiums (18) followed by John McGuinness (8), Asami, Haslam and Phillip McCallen (all 6), Stuart Easton and Martin Jessopp (both 5), Akira Terui, Hislop, David Jefferies and Ian Hutchinson (all 4) and Grant, Robert Dunlop, Peter Rubatto, Didier de Radigues, Andreas Hoffmann, Steve Parrish and Hickman (all 3).

All of Haslam’s six podiums were race wins.

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Rutter’s podiums span 21 years with his first coming in 1996 when he took third and the most recent coming in 2017 with another third place.

Six World Championship race winners have been victorious at Macau – Hiroshi Hasegawa, Hideo Kanaya, Chas Mortimer, Mick Grant, Kevin Schwantz and Didier de Radigues.

Rutter will be the most experienced rider on the grid with 2018 being his 24th visit to Macau. The next most experienced riders are John McGuinness (20 visits), Horst Saiger and Gary Johnson (11 visits), Martin Jessopp (10 visits) and Didier Grams (9 visits).

Rutter will be the first rider to ride a GP-spec Honda RC213V-S at the Macau GP. The last time a Grand Prix machine won at Macau was in 1996 when Phillip McCallen won on a YZR500 Yamaha.

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A record ten newcomers will be on the grid in 2018.

Twelve nations will be represented in 2018 – England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, Australia, Austria, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Portugal, Spain and Finland.

In 1969, Hong Kong’s John MacDonald won the motorcycle GP to become the first - and only - man ever to have won both the Macau Car Grand Prix (1965) and the motorcycle Grand Prix.

The first sub three minute lap was set by Suzuki’s Ken Araoka in 1974 with a new lap record of 2:56.68.

Michael Rutter was the first rider to break the 90mph barrier with a speed of 90.74mph on his Honda RC45 in 1998.

The current lap record stands at 2m23.616s (95.32mph) and was set by Stuart Easton in 2010 when riding the PBM Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Only five riders have lapped in less than 2m25s – Easton, Michael Rutter, Glenn Irwin, Peter Hickman and Martin Jessopp.

The fastest non-British rider is American Jeremy Toye whose lap of 94.28mph in 2010 makes him the sixth fastest rider of all time.

Glenn Irwin is the fastest newcomer in the history of the event with a lap of 93.92mph in 2016.

The most successful manufacturer is Yamaha with 22 wins followed by Honda (15), Suzuki, Ducati and Kawasaki (all 4) and BMW (2).

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