Ferrari has won the FIA GT World Cup for the first time – and in impressive style. Antonio Fuoco, the reigning Le Mans overall winner, dominated the entire race weekend on the demanding Guia Circuit and, after pole position and qualifying victory, also secured triumph in the main race. This is the first overall victory for Fuoco and the Italian brand at the prestigious GT event in Macau.
Raffaele Marciello finished second behind the Ferrari works driver in the ROWE-BMW M4 GT3. Last year’s winner kept up well in the high-speed sector, but was unable to put pressure on the leading Ferrari in the tight urban section. In the end, Marciello was just under four seconds off the pace.
The podium was completed by Laurin Heinrich in the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Schumacher CLRT. However, the German is still under investigation because he touched Ayhancan Güven on the starting lap, causing the Turkish driver to crash into the barrier.
The early stages of the race were marked by several incidents:
Alessio Picariello spun after a slight contact with Marciello and crashed lightly into the inside barrier, but was lucky that his car, which was sliding backwards, was not hit. There was further chaos at the Lisboa corner: Güven hit the tire barrier after the collision with Heinrich and was subsequently hit by Luca Engstler and Dorian Boccolacci. Adderly Fong also suffered a puncture and had to pit.
After the incidents, the safety car was deployed to clear the track. Towards the end of the race, an accident involving Edoardo Mortara caused a stir: The ten-time winner in Macau hit the barrier after a technical defect in the Melco hairpin. However, due to the overtaking ban in this section of the track, race control decided against further neutralization.
Top 10 – FIA GT World Cup Macau:
- Antonio Fuoco – AF Corse – Ferrari 296 GT3
- Raffaele Marciello – ROWE Racing – BMW M4 GT3
- Laurin Heinrich – Schumacher CLRT – Porsche 911 GT3 R
- Joel Eriksson – Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom – Audi R8 LMS GT3
- Yifei Ye – Harmony Racing – Ferrari 296 GT3
- Sheldon van der Linde – WRT – BMW M4 GT3
- Christopher Haase – FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom – Audi R8 LMS GT3
- Deng Yi – Winhere Motorsports – Ferrari 296 GT3
- Laurens Vanthoor – Absolute Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 R
- Benjamin Goethe – Optimum Motorsport – McLaren 720S GT3