Vivian Siu

Vivian Siu (Siu Wing Man) is a Hong Kong driver who races single-seaters. 

As a teenager, she became interested in motorsport after becoming "addicted" to arcade racing games, something she did while she was mourning the sudden death of her mother when she was 16. She didn't get to race for real until she was in her 20s, after she had finished her studies at Columbia University and started working in the financial industry.

She competed in Formula 4 in 2023, beginning with the first two meetings of the Chinese championship. This was a first for a female driver to begin with, but she also managed to score points at Ningbo, finishing tenth.

During the winter season, she entered the first round of the Southeast Asia (SEA) F4 series at Zhuzhou Circuit in China, finishing sixth twice and tenth once for the BlackArts team. She switched to Champ Motorsport for the non-championship Macau support race, finishing 17th and 14th. This was a first for a female driver as well, although others had finished the Macau Grand Prix itself.

Trying something different, she entered the 2023 Asian Motorsport Championships, a tournament-based event similar to the FIA Motorsport Games. She and Li Ho Sing won the mixed pairs gold medal in Auto Gymkhana.

Since 2023, she has not raced much, although she has been the subject of a a film, "Zero to Macao".

Away from motorsport, she works in financial services in New York. Although born in Hong Kong, she spent most of her childhood in the States, returning to her home country after the early death of her mother and returning as a student.

(Image from Macao News)

Diana Poon

 

The 1976 Macau Grand Prix

Diana Poon is a Hong Kong driver who was the first woman to race a single-seater and the Macau Grand Prix.

She entered several of the big Formula Pacific races held in southeast Asia in the 1970s. 

In 1976, she became the first female driver to race in the Macau Guia, in a single-seater. She was also part of the only couple to race against each other there, with her husband, Albert Poon. They always raced together, or to be more accurate, against one another.

Her car was a Formula 3-spec machine, almost certainly a Brabham BT40 with a 1600cc Hart engine, formerly raced by her husband and Australian Kevin Bartlett. Her finishing position is unclear. 

Later, in 1979, she drove the Brabham with some small successes. She was apparently based in Malaysia that year. Her best finish was fifth in the Penang Grand Prix, and she was also ninth in the Malaysian Grand Prix, held at Batu Tiga. She did not finish the Selangor Grand Prix. 

After that, she seems to vanish from the starting lists. The Poons separated at some point and this may be the reason. A future owner of the Brabham found that it had been badly damaged at some point, which could be another explanation.

Very little information about Diana is easily obtainable. It is unclear what her background was, whether she remarried or whether she is still alive. 

(Image copyright Motor Sport Magazine)