NuNu PN24041 1/24 BMW 320i E46 2001 Macau Gear Race Winner
Super Touring (Class 2), contested by 2.0-liter 4-door saloons, replaced Group A and became the most popular regulations across the world in the 1990s. It was first introduced in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 1990, followed by championships in Italy and France in 1993, Germany and Japan in 1994. BMW also entered the Super Touring with the third generation 3 Series E36. At the time, many rivals were front-wheel drive, but BMW 3 Series equipped with a 2.0-liter inline 4-cylinder engine that had been trained in races and driving the rear wheels was highly prized in national championships due to its high cornering performance. Even though BMW withdrew from the works team after that, the successor model 4th generation 3 series E46 inherited its good features, and many privateers showed their success in various races. Carly Motorsport, based in Leiden, the Netherlands, was one of the successful privateers who participated in the Dutch Touring Car Championship with BMW 320i E36 in 1997.
Carly Motorsport started challenging the “Super Production Class” of the European Super Touring Championship from 2001 with the BMW 320i E46. The Super Production class is based on the Group N regulations, which have a narrower range of modifications than Super Touring Cars. In 2001, Duncan Huisman from the Netherlands took three wins at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France, Circuit Zolder in the Netherlands, and the Hungaroring in Hungary to finish 2nd in the series. With that momentum, the team entered three 320i E46 in the Guia Race of Macau, co-hosted by the F3 World Championship Macau GP, entrusting the steering to Huisman, Tom Coronel, and Franz Engstler. The 6.2km-long Guia Circuit, where the Guia Race takes place, is a course with great difficulty where accidents often occur due to the narrow road width of the Macau city area.
Huisman took the pole position in qualifying, followed by Coronel in 2nd and Engstler in 3rd. In Race 1, Engstler retreated from trouble, and Huisman and Coronel engaged in a tail-to-nose battle. Huisman led steadily, but Coronel slipstreamed on the main straight at the end and succeeded in a brilliant overtake. Coronel followed Huisman for a 1-2 finish. In the following race 2, Coronel, who was running in the lead, also crashed as accidents occurred frequently. It gave Huisman the lead and got his first Guia Race victory. In 2002 and 2003, Huisman also entered the Guia Race of Macau with Carly Motorsport 320i E46 and achieved three consecutive wins.