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Macau Grand Prix winner Darryl O’Young on Covid-19 sacrifices that led to Hong Kong driver’s ‘miracle’ win and ‘my first tears after a race’

  • Veteran driver overcomes Macau crash, South Africa confusion and Penny’s Bay quarantine to return to family in time for Christmas
  • O’Young and his team forced a Macau welder out of his bed to help mechanics work overnight and repair the damaged car

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Hong Kong driver Darryl O’Young celebrates with Craft Bamboo Racing team mechanics after the Macau Grand Prix GT Cup final round event in Macau. Photo: Craft Bamboo Racing
Darryl O’Young’s fairy tale Macau Grand Prix win in November was but one instalment of the sacrifices he made as a motorsport professional during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Following his GT Cup victory, in which the 41-year-old Hong Kong driver steered a seriously damaged Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO to first place having not raced or trained for a year, O’Young travelled to South Africa as team manager for the GT Challenge’s Kyalami 9 Hour – only for it to be postponed to next year because of the then-emerging Omicron variant.

O’Young and his Craft Bamboo Racing team were stranded for some time before they eventually found flights back home – for another seven-day quarantine in Penny’s Bay and 14 days in a regular hotel. The light at the end of the tunnel is seeing his beloved wife and daughters just in time for Christmas.

“Normally when we go to a few races in a year, it’s one week out and one week back, but this time it took three months to get home,” O’Young said via video mid-quarantine.

Hong Kong star driver Darryl O’Young on the podium after he wins the Macau Grand Prix GT Cup final round event. Photo: Craft Bamboo Racing
Hong Kong star driver Darryl O’Young on the podium after he wins the Macau Grand Prix GT Cup final round event. Photo: Craft Bamboo Racing

“This is a sacrifice that leads to some drivers not going to the race. The whole motorsport industry is being affected at the moment – not just racing, but everybody in the world.

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