Macau GP | FIA GT World Cup | Qualifying Race | Fuoco claims commanding victory - Motorsport

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Antonio Fuoco delivered a commanding performance at the wheel of the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 to secure a dominant victory in Saturday’s FIA World GT Cup Qualifying Race at the Macau GP. The Italian driver and co-driver Yifei Ye capitalised on Ferrari’s commanding qualifying display by occupying the top two finishing positions.

Fuoco controlled proceedings throughout the twelve-lap Macau GP Qualifying Race with assured precision, crossing the line a comfortable 2.543 seconds ahead of Ye’s No. 83 Harmony Racing vehicle. The contest proved largely processional, with clean racing throughout and no requirement for safety car intervention despite the inherent dangers of Macau’s street circuit.

Early challenges

From the outset, Fuoco managed the demands of the demanding Lisboa corner effectively on the opening lap, preserving his advantage into the first bend. The leading Ferrari gradually established an advantage over the pursuing Ye, swelling to four seconds by the midpoint of the opening third of the race. However, this margin progressively contracted to beneath three seconds as the driver settled into his rhythm and managed fuel and tyre temperatures.

Opening lap drama

Raffaele Marciello mounted the most significant threat during the opening exchanges, his ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO utilising a favourable line through Mandarin to position himself aggressively. However, faced with the outside line into Lisboa, Marciello retreated to third place, a position from which he would not seriously threaten during the remainder of the proceedings.

The opening lap witnessed the customary drama typical of Macau street racing. Christopher Haase encountered the barriers in his Audi Sport Asia vehicle whilst navigating Lisboa, whilst Lamborghini driver Edoardo Mortara, who had qualified tenth after squandering a promising super pole effort, appeared to misread braking distances into the famous corner. Both drivers, along with Benjamin Goethe’s McLaren and Sheldon van der Linde’s BMW, which also experienced first-lap difficulties, managed to continue and resume their races despite their predicaments.

Throughout the middle and closing stages, Alessio Picariello in the Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R mounted a consistent challenge to Ye’s second position, maintaining close proximity to the Ferrari. Despite numerous promising instances, the Porsche driver never successfully created a legitimate overtaking opportunity, ultimately finishing six tenths of a second adrift of the second-placed Ferrari.

Marciello gradually faded as the race progressed, eventually finishing fourth, some four seconds behind the leading trio. Joel Eriksson’s Phantom Global Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II secured fifth place, separated by just a solitary second.

Closing stages

DTM champion Ayhancan Güven, making his Macau debut in his Schumacher CLRT Porsche, claimed sixth position, whilst the subsequent battle between Güven’s teammate Laurin Heinrich and Luca Engstler’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 provided the race’s most compelling narrative in its final stages. Despite Heinrich orchestrating multiple attacking manoeuvres, Engstler successfully defended to secure seventh, with Heinrich claiming eighth position ahead of Dorian Boccolacci’s Phantom Global Porsche in ninth.

Deng Yi rounded out the top ten in the second Harmony Racing Ferrari, whilst Laurens Vanthoor’s race proved disappointing, the Belgian driver’s second Absolute Racing Porsche sustaining first-lap contact at Turn 1 and leaving him to finish where he started in eleventh.