Kwan quits speed racing and eyes Le Mans
Hong Kong's greatest driver, Charles Kwan, yesterday officially announced his retirement from speed racing and the Macau Grand Prix - but said he might return in endurance events.
Kwan made the announcement after finishing third in the season-ending race at the Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia series, signing off one of the most brilliant careers in Asia.
The 41-year-old Team Infineon-Novellus driver is a legend in Macau.
He is the only driver in the history of the event to have won three races on the same weekend in 1993.
He won the Macau Cup Race in a Group A BMW M3, the Supercar Race with a Porsche 911 Turbo and the Guia Race aboard a DTM BMW M3 - a feat that will probably never be matched. He has had considerable success in southeast Asia, too, and his exploits on the track have been well-documented by motor racing journalists, who consider him to be the best-ever Hong Kong driver.
Before Kwan signed off in Macau, he did something he will always be remembered for - set the fastest lap with an incredible time of two minutes, 31.956 seconds during his last race.
That was almost half a second faster than race winner Rizal Ramli's best time of 2:32.447.
'I don't know what lap that was on,' quipped Kwan of his phenomenal lap.
'I kept on pushing. It was my last race and I tried to do my best and tried to get on the podium. But it's very hard to pass in Macau. I felt under pressure from [Charoensukhawatana] Nattavude.
'I felt he made a mistake coming out of the hair-pin. He went sideways and I managed to pass him,' said Kwan, who beat Nattavude for third place in the race.
Kwan said the prospect of Hong Kong competing in the world-famous Le Mans race appealed to him.
There are other significant changes in his life as well for he will marry his fiance in January.
'I might continue racing in some long distance races. Le Mans is quite interesting. Matthew [Marsh] is trying very hard for this. We'll wait and see what happens.'
The Porsche series winner saluted Kwan for being a friend, a confidante and mentor.
'He was saying during mid-season that he was going to retire and that he was going to get married early next year.
'When I heard that he was going to retire, I kept on saying 'no, because I need you to race at Le Mans' and that's ridiculous [to retire] because you're the icon of Hong Kong racing,' said Marsh.
'There are a number of reasons why he should not retire. On track, he has won everything that is there to win.
'He won three races on one Macau Grand Prix weekend and that makes him very special.
'The measure of a man is not how his shoes look, but how he behaves out of the car as well as inside the car as a racing driver. He's an absolute gentleman.
'I remember ringing him before Macau, saying 'I'm wondering whether I could work with you in Macau' and he said 'yes, sure' and he helped me set up the car even though I was a competitor then. He was going for the championship then and I was trying to win the race.'
