Albert Poon

Albert Poon was born in 5 January 1936 and widely known as “Man of Hong Kong Motorsport”, entered the Guia Circuit in 1959. “Every year has been memorable,” Albert says. “When I watched the race (for the first time in 1958) I said, ‘I can do that. That’s no big brainer’, and the next year I was in. Well, after having raced for the first time I knew it was not what I thought it was on the outside. This was different. I drove the first race in the absolutely stock TR2, and then I learned about modification. I worked on the car myself – at the time there were no magazines, no one teaching you about how to do it, so we had to do everything by ourselves.”

He won the 11^th Macau Grand Prix with Lotus 23 in 1964, establishing a new fastest lap record of 3:05.40. Albert was runner-up in Macau Grand Prix on three occasions in 1966, 1969 and 1970; third place in Macau Grand Prix in 1962 and 1976; and third place in the first running of the Guia 200 in 1972 (which is now known as Macau Guia Race).

A pre-race favourite in 1968, Albert set off in his much-loved Brabham Alfa Romeo from the front row of the three-abreast grid. After the Japanese driver Osamu Mochizuki was shunted off the grid at what was then Lisboa Bend, Albert found himself leading the Grand Prix. However, after a coming together with a backmarker during which Albert’s car lost its nose cone and – worse – use of second and third gears, he dropped to second behind Osamu Masuko. The drama was not over though, after 31 laps, Masuko was forced to make two consecutive pit stops and Albert regained the lead, much to the approval of the 55,000-strong crowd. Sadly, a second Macau Grand Prix victory was not to be for Albert. On lap 35, his gearbox gave way completely, forcing his retirement from the race, and Malaysian driver Jan Bussell with Brabham F2 won the race.

On 9 November, 2003, Albert Poon won the Mini Fans Club Race held in Macao to prove his racing mettle at the age of 67.

In 2013, Albert participated in the Lotus Greater China Race at the age of 77. The first race (two rounds) was held at the Guangdong International Circuit from 22 to 23 June, and the final round was held in Macao in November. Albert started from the 7^th place and moved up to third position on lap 3, he continued to attack the second-place Thailand female driver Charoensukhawatana Tanchanok during the race; on lap 7, he decided to slingshot past on the run down and moved up to second place at the Lisboa Bend successfully, but Tanchanok did not slow down and hit Albert’s rear, causing his car lose control and crash out of the race, but Albert was still granted the Contribution Award.