Guia Circuit

The Guia Circuit, also known as Circuito da Guia, is a street circuit located at the southeast portion of Macau. It serves as the venue of the prestigious Macau Grand Prix and Guia Race of Macau.

The Guia Circuit consists of long straights and tight corners, and features the characteristics of a typical street circuit - narrow, bumpy, and few overtaking opportunities.

However, there are two special features that can rarely be found in other street circuits - variation in altitude (over 30m between highest and lowest point of the circuit) and an ultra long main straight that allows top speed of 260km/h on F3 cars.

As a result, the circuit is recognized as one of the most challenging circuits in the world in terms of both driving and tuning, as cars have to maintain competitive speed to overcome hill-climbing, twisty corners and long straights in a single lap.

The Guia Circuit was originally conceived in 1954 as a route for treasure hunt around the streets of the city, but shortly after the event it was suggested that the hunt's track could host an amateur racing event for local motor enthusiasts. Since 1967, with the introduction of a motorcycle race, the track has become a venue for both motorcycle and car racing events.

Unlike other regular racing tracks in the world, the layout of the Guia Circuit has not been modified since its first event in 1954. The narrowest part of the track has a width of merely 7m, which is located at the Melco Hairpin. The whole length of the circuit is safely bounded by Armco barriers painted in black and yellow stripes. There used to be a gravel trap near the Reservoir Bend but since the pit and paddock complex was moved to the present location, this feature has been removed.

The circuit is unique for its combination of motorcycle and car racing events within the same race weekend. The Macau Motorcycle GP, the Guia Race (WTCC final rounds since 2005) and the Macau Formula 3 GP are the highlights of the race weekend. In addition, various kind of racing events are organized for competition between local and regional (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South East Asia, etc.) enthusiasts.