Drivers who’ve won the Macau Grand Prix includes two Formula 1 world champions (Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher), three other F1 race winners (Riccardo Patrese, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher), four Le Mans champs (Vern Schuppan, Andy Wallace, John Nielsen, Mike Conway) and one Indy 500 victor (Takumo Sato). But the long list features only a single American: Bob Earl.
In 1981, the field included three two-time winners – Geoff Lees, Vern Schuppan and Riccardo Patrese – along with Jean-Pierre Jarier, Roberto Moreno, Satoru Nakajima, Tiff Needell and Ray Mallock.
Earl was thrilled with his victory – until he got to the awards banquet and received a whopping $36 in prize money. “I asked Geoff about it because he’d won the year before, and he said, ‘I got $34 last year,’” Earl says. “Hayashi left me high and dry. I didn’t have any money or a hotel to stay in.” He spent the night on the floor of American journalist Steve Nickless’s room.
The hits kept coming when Earl got home. “I figured, worldwide race, ‘Bob Earl wins Macau,’ blah blah blah. Enzo Ferrari is going to call me tomorrow,” he says. “And I didn’t have a ride for three years! I went back to work at the Bob Bondurant School.”
A few years later, Earl returned to Macau when the GP was run as a Formula 3 race. He’d never driven an F3 car before, so he decided to spend a practice session shadowing a highly touted Brazilian kid then racing as Ayrton da Silva. Afterward, Earl told his race engineer, Carroll Smith, “‘He pulled me two feet on the exit of every corner. Who the **** is that guy? I don’t think I can beat him.’”
LeMans 1990
Sebring Winner 1990
Bob Earl Sim Racing Chassis
In 1981, the field included three two-time winners – Geoff Lees, Vern Schuppan and Riccardo Patrese – along with Jean-Pierre Jarier, Roberto Moreno, Satoru Nakajima, Tiff Needell and Ray Mallock.
Earl was thrilled with his victory – until he got to the awards banquet and received a whopping $36 in prize money. “I asked Geoff about it because he’d won the year before, and he said, ‘I got $34 last year,’” Earl says. “Hayashi left me high and dry. I didn’t have any money or a hotel to stay in.” He spent the night on the floor of American journalist Steve Nickless’s room.
The hits kept coming when Earl got home. “I figured, worldwide race, ‘Bob Earl wins Macau,’ blah blah blah. Enzo Ferrari is going to call me tomorrow,” he says. “And I didn’t have a ride for three years! I went back to work at the Bob Bondurant School.”
A few years later, Earl returned to Macau when the GP was run as a Formula 3 race. He’d never driven an F3 car before, so he decided to spend a practice session shadowing a highly touted Brazilian kid then racing as Ayrton da Silva. Afterward, Earl told his race engineer, Carroll Smith, “‘He pulled me two feet on the exit of every corner. Who the **** is that guy? I don’t think I can beat him.’”
LeMans 1990
Sebring Winner 1990
Bob Earl Sim Racing Chassis
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