Helmet swap for old friends

Tuesday 1st December 2009, 2:29PM GMT.

Stars in their own pit lanes: Andy Priaulx, right, and TT champion John McGuinness swap crash helmets while in Macau. (Picture by Brill Bristow, 0880029)

TRIPLE world touring car champion, Andy Priaulx, and Isle of Man TT superstar, John McGuinness, can usually be found in Macau watching each others’ races.

But this year they decided it was time for their mutual admiration to go one step further and before leaving China swapped racing helmets.

Guernsey’s Priaulx and Morecambe Bay’s McGuinness have both won on the notorious street track, and have become firm friends over the years. This year it was the 12th time Honda rider McGuinness had raced there, while for BMW Team UK’s Priaulx it was his sixth touring car race, but prior to that he had raced there in Formula 3.