Ayrton Senna mural by Vhils

Grand Prix Museum general public partial opening on April 1

The upgraded Macau Grand Prix Museum will open partially for visits by the public from April 1, with ticket sales available from next week and with tourism authorities predicting some 22,700 in an initial average daily visitation.

“Macau has a long tradition of motorsports, it is part of the local culture. We want the museum to allow future generations to know more and create a connection with the Grand Prix,” Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said today (Friday) during a presentation of the facility.

The public will be able to schedule visits and purchase admission tickets in advance online from 9:00am of March 22 with designated time slots for morning and afternoon, with limited quotas available.

The museum at Rua de Luiz Gonzaga Gomes will be opened to the public on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in April as well as daily in May, with tickets at an initially discounted half price of MOP20 for Macau residents, MOP40 for non-residents and free for children, elderly above 65, students and disabled residents.

“We think there is a need to charge for the tickets, there are a lot of interesting offerings, interactive games and other innovative elements […] the whole management of the museum, including workers and guides is the largest expense of the facility,” Fernandes noted.

The upgrade cost about MOP479 million, with Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Deputy Director, Ricky Hoi, indicating that MOP390 million went for the expansion construction; MOP69 million for hardware and supporting services including supervision and IT equipment; and MOP30 million for the motorsport exhibition materials, such as wax figures of racers and materials exposed.

Local authorities had previously indicated a MOP832 million estimated budget for the museum revamp, but with Hoi noting that this value was just an initial estimate given as reference.

At present, some racing simulators and wax figures of racers are awaiting installation and follow-up by technicians from other cities, who have been unable to come to Macau due to pandemic related travel restrictions are lifted

The museum re-development project expanded the previous area where the former Grand Prix and Wine museums to four floors amounting to a total floor area of approximately 16,000 square meters, with new entertainment and leisure areas with simulators, multimedia, video-mapping, cinema and other offerings.

While the basement zone will explore Macau GT Cup and Guia Race first floor, formula race cars from the early editions of the GP and other Formula 3 exhibits are the focus, with spotlights Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix on the second floor, with a deconstructed motorcycle display and virtual reality motorcycle racing.

The museum will also include a mural by Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils, depicting the late Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, who in 1983 won one of the most important races in his Formula 3 career in the Macau GP for Teddy Yip’s historic team, Theodore Racing.

The attraction will also be included in the future subsidised local tour scheme announced by local authorities to help support the local tour agency sector.

The museum opened originally in 1993, with some renovation works carried out in 2003 and with the museum closed since 2017 for the most recent revamp.