The Day a Bufori took on the Macau GP! [+Huge Grid Girls Photo Gallery]

Let me tell you a story. It has been almost a decade since this happened, but it did, because I was there. The recent news of that massive pile-up during the FIA GT World Cup reminded me of this, and yes folks, a made-in-Malaysia Bufori actually took on the big-boys in Macau, a long time ago…

It’s worth remembering that unlike the multi-million dollar sponsored teams that throng the Macau GP, Bufori are a small outfit, creating bespoke hand-made cars for a very niche clientele. ‘Outfit’ is a good term to use because they actually measure a new buyer from head to toe, to make sure the car fits properly around him or her. No, really…

It was truly David vs. Goliath stuff I tell ya. Not only was the car physically smaller compared to the rest, the budget used to enter a car in the Grande Premio de Macau, or Macau GP, would have put many a privateer team off. It was called the Bufori BMS R1 Axle Motorsports car, and this is its story…

If there’s one name synonymous with local motor-racing, it’s Alex Yoong (above). Thus far the only Malaysian to pilot a Formula 1 car competitively, Alex has been having all sorts of success in the Audi LMS Series, and who better to pilot the BMS R1 on its maiden outing than he.

So there we were, a couple of homeboys from a small country, with a small car that was about to take on some pretty big names in motor-racing, for let’s not forget, the Macau GP is truly an international event. And the lead-up to race-day read like a Hollywood script…

Another thing I recall is that Axle Motorsports built this car in nine-weeks. When you take into consideration that it can take up to 10-months to build a proper FIA sanctioned full-on racing car, this was a feat that deserved massive praise.

I also remember that whilst other teams in the pit garage (located underground because Macau is such a tight track) were done making final preparations for the race, Team Bufori were still building the car in the same garage. I kid you not. The 9th week of the build was in the pits.

Powered by a front mid-mounted Mitsubishi EVO X engine sending drive to the rear wheels alone, the BMS R1 received more attention than any other car in the pit, not only from spectators during the ‘walk-about’, but also other teams alike. Note in the photo above, the engine is mounted so far back, Alex is almost sitting next to it…

Gerry Khouri (above), the owner of Bufori cars, must have felt like Enzo Ferrari that day, for he was doing the same; racing a car before it ever saw a public road. He was right there with the crew, working on the car. It was all-hands-on-deck for even the boss-man.

So, remember that little snippet about the 9th week of the car build taking place in the pits? Well, that meant that the first ‘shakedown’ drive for the BMS R1 would take place during the first practice session of the race. That’s right, the first time this car would ever run in anger was during the first practice session for the actual race. And then the organisers cancelled the practice session…

Speaking to Alex sometime during the course of the day, I was astonished to learn that he’d never driven the car before. In fact the first time he drove it was from the pit garage to the scrutineers tent that day (above). I mean, you talk about a baptism of fire. It also meant that the first time he would ever drive this car hard would be during official qualifying, since the practice session had been cancelled.

But Alex is a professional racer. From the moment he got into the car and onto the track, I could see he was already zoning-in, and sure enough, the Bufori BMS R1 put in a time good enough to qualify. In the photos above and below, this is what I meant earlier about fans being astonished to see this car on the grid, ready to take on the big boys.

The actual race was beyond thrilling. In the first lap alone, not only was the BMS R1 able to keep-up with the big boys, Alex gave many of them a proper scare when made up three places within the first few corners!

Anyone who’s seen how tight the Macau circuit is, will know just how difficult that would be to do. The car was going brilliantly, and it looked amazingly quick. But lady-luck was not in Macau that day…

It was before lap 7 if I’m not mistaken, while going very well, a jammed accelerator pedal sent the BMS R1 backwards into a tyre barrier. Alex was totally unhurt, the damage was minimal, and I’m sure if the pedal had come un-jammed after the impact, Alex would have continued racing, but it didn’t and the race was over for the BMS R1.

To my knowledge, that was the one and only time the BMS R1 competed in Macau, I’m not sure it ever went back, so for me anyway, I’d just watched history being made, and for Alex, another accolade; the only Malaysian to competitively race a Bufori in Macau.

As far as fairy-tale endings go, this story didn’t have one, but somehow it didn’t seem to bother me, nor the crew above, much at the time. They’d done something near impossible by getting the car there to race, in an astonishing nine-weeks. I still have trouble wrapping my head around that.

All in all, this was one of the most memorable races I’d ever attended, the sight, sounds, smells and of course the lovely Macau GP Grid Girls (check out the photo gallery below, you don’t wanna miss that guys…) is something I’ll never forget; the day Bufori took on giants. – Chris Wee.

Grande Premio de Macau 2009 Photo Gallery (BMS R1 photos by CW, Grid Girls photos by someone else, ahem)