Germany’s Maro Engel has won victory today’s dramatic FIA GT World Cup at the Macau Grand Prix, after Switzerland’s Raffaelle Marciello and Italy’s Antonio Fuoco had slid off track while dicing for the lead with three laps to go.
In slippery conditions at the Guia Circuit, the race began under the Safety Car, which led the field around until peeling off at the end of lap 5, with pole-sitter Marciello leading from Belgium’s Dries Vanthoor and Fuoco.
Ferrari's Fuoco appeared quicker than the duo ahead of him, and the Italian overtook Vanthoor with a well-judged lunge up the inside of R Bend on lap 8.
Engel also looked to move past Vanthoor as they made their way up the hill on lap 9 and nudged the Belgian into the barriers, damaging his car and ending his race – an offense for which Engel was slapped with a five-second time penalty.
With the top three now running in close attendance, Fuoco set the fastest lap as he reeled in Marciello and dived up the inside of the Italian at R Bend on lap 13 to take the lead.
However, both drivers then misjudged their braking point at the notorious Lisboa Bend and slid into the escape road, putting them both out of contention and gifting Engel a lead he was to keep to the flag.
"To be honest, we didn't expect this because even in the dry, to fight for the podium was difficult, so we knew that rain would be our only chance," said Engel, who crossed the line over six seconds ahead of the second-placed BMW of Augusto Farfas, rendering his time penalty irrelevant.
"I guess everything came together for us, and when Antonio and Lelo went straight on, that was what we needed.
"I want to say sorry to Dries. It's unfortunate that we came together, definitely not on purpose. I went for a move, he tried to close, and we came together slightly, and I think he tagged the wall.
"A big thank you to Mercedes. They gave me an amazing car all weekend. We hung on to try to compete with BMW and Ferrari, and it paid off. We're over the moon, and for me personally, I just love Macau. This place creates unique memories, and it's special."
Rounding out the top three was BMW's Sheldon van der Linde of South Africa, with Belgium’s Alessio Picariello and fellow Belgian Laurens Vanthoor fourth and fifth for Porsche.
Germany’s Christopher Haase was the leading Audi in sixth place, ahead of Switzerland’s Edoardo Mortara in his Lamborghini. Switzerland’s Ricardo Feller took eighth for Audi, while Fuoco recovered to finish ninth, and Spain’s Dani Juncadella rounded out the top ten.
Ye Yifei was the leading Chinese finisher in 11th, with compatriot Ye Hongli taking 16th place and Yu Kuai a lap down in 20th.
- Xinhua, MPD
