Theodore Racing back in Macau: Like father, like son

Looking at the grid of the Formula 3 International Cup, it is difficult to find a team more related to Macau than Theodore Racing. The team was founded in 1976 by Hong Kong-based businessman Teddy Yip, who also raced on the Guia track himself. However, the connection of Mr. Yip with Macau happened before, as he was one of the co-founders, along with Stanley Ho, of the local Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM).
Two years ago, the son of Mr. Yip, Teddy Yip Junior, revived the team, which had disbanded in 1992, to compete in the Formula 3 race in Macau.
The goal was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s triumph in Macau with the colours of Theodore Racing. At the end of the event, driver Alex Lynn won the race, making it a perfect comeback.
“I grew up around this team. In 2013, it was the year of the 30th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s victory with my father and I felt it was the perfect time to revive”, Teddy Yip Jr. told Business Daily. “Our entire weekend was a fairytale. You couldn’t have written it any better.
Everything was so perfect. Winning during our first year back was unbelievable. It was really special.”
However, the victory is already behind the team, and after failing to win the previous edition of the race, Theodore Racing, which since its revival has been racing in a partnership with Italian team Prema Powerteam, is chasing its eighth triumph in Macau.
“I do feel the relationship between Macau and our team very much. I remember last year, when we did not win… I was walking around the streets and people were coming up to me to tell me that I would get it this next year. That support is very good”, Yip Jr. said.
“Actually, some people stop me in the streets and tell me they still have Theodore Racing badges from the 80’s. There’s really a lot of support. People that knew my father approach me and tell old stories.
It’s a great feeling and I really feel at home racing here”, he added.
Feeling at home
The connection of Theodore Racing with Macau is reinforced by the sponsorship contract with SJM Holdings, the gaming operator founded by Stanley Ho that runs some of the casinos that used to be under STDM’s control.
In spite of being born in Hong Kong, Teddy Yip Jnr. has spent most of his time in the United Kingdom and Canada, where he currently lives.
However, his name and the connections to Hong Kong and Macau are still very present in his life.
“Besides the racing weekend, I always try to come to Macau two or three times a year. I love Macau and walking around in the old Portuguese streets, the casino venues and so on”, he told Business Daily.
Rosenqvist hired to win
For this year’s edition, the goal of the team is to achieve its eighth victory in Macau. In order to achieve that Felix Rosenqvist, the winner of last year’s Formula 3 race, was brought to Macau, Felix Rosenqvist.
“We are here to win and Felix was an obvious choice having in mind our goal. We believe the victory is perfectly achievable but it will require great luck, bravery and skill during all the weekend”, he explained.
While in November Teddy Yip Jr. is mainly involved with Theodore Racing, during the rest of the season he is focused in Status Grand Prix, where he is Team Principal. The sister team of Theodore Racing competes in the Series GP2 and GP3 and in both championships it is placed at 8th position, with two rounds to go.
“We’re currently racing GP3 Series but we’re going to stop it at the end of the year. We want to focus on the GP2 championship”, he said of the future of the team. However, the dream is to follow in his father’s footsteps and have a team racing in Formula One.
“We’re aiming for Formula One. Now, it requires a lot of pieces to come together to take that step, so in this way this goal is pretty much a dream. But down the line, and step by step, I hope we can build that project. That’s why I think it’s a dream worth talking about”, he explained.
Beside Felix Rosenqvist, Theodore Racing has two rookies, Briton Jake Dennis and Canadian Lance Stroll.