Factory Ferrari driver Antonio Fuoco secured victory in the qualifying race for the FIA GT World Cup in Macau. Starting from pole position, the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours winner delivered a controlled lights-to-flag performance in the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 over twelve laps and was never seriously threatened.
At the start, Fuoco immediately broke clear of the #83 Harmony Ferrari driven by fellow Ferrari driver Yifei Ye, opening up a 3.6-second gap within two laps. This victory puts Fuoco back in the same position he occupied last year, when the main race ended in controversy after a clash between him and Raffaele Marciello cost both drivers a shot at victory, with Maro Engel ultimately having the last laugh.
Yifei Ye managed to reduce the gap to 2.543 seconds by the flag but never came close enough to mount a serious challenge for the lead. Instead, he had to keep an eye on his mirrors as Porsche’s Alessio Picariello applied pressure, leaving no margin for error.
Picariello, in turn, was under attack from Marciello in the opening laps before the BMW dropped back. Marciello’s hopes of a third Macau victory seemed promising early on when he briefly challenged for second place heading into Lisboa Bend, but he ran out of room on the outside line and was relegated back to fourth.
Behind the top four, Audi’s Joel Eriksson and Porsche’s Ayhancan Guven enjoyed largely uneventful races to finish fifth and sixth respectively. In seventh, Luca Engstler in the best Lamborghini had to fend off sustained pressure from Laurin Heinrich throughout the race but held on to his position on a circuit notoriously difficult for overtaking.
The top ten was rounded out by Dorian Boccolacci, who stayed within reach of the Engstler-Heinrich battle, and Deng Yi, who put on a fantastic performance in his debut Ferrari race.
Laurens Vanthoor and Adderly Fong finished 11th and 12th, both delayed by a first-lap melee at Lisboa that took out three favorites. The famous 90-degree right-hander was once again the focal point of the race’s only major incident.
Edoardo Mortara, starting from tenth after having his qualifying times deleted for exceeding maximum power, outbraked himself while attempting to recover lost ground. Chaos followed behind, with several cars tangling and sending Christopher Haase’s Audi into the tyre barrier, while Benjamin Goethe’s McLaren and Sheldon van der Linde’s BMW were forced into the escape road. All three continued but were left scrapping for the final positions.
The main race will start on Sunday at 12:35 local time and is set for a distance of 16 laps. Fans can expect an intense battle as the drivers vie for the prestigious FIA GT World Cup victory in Macau.
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