Engel Snatches Macau Win in Rain-Soaked Main Race

Photo: FIA

Maro Engel snatched the FIA GT World Cup championship following late-race drama for Antonio Fuoco and Raffaele Marciello in Sunday’s Main Race title-decider in a rain-soaked Macau.

Engel in the No. 130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo took a 6.641-second win over the No. 89 KRC BMW M4 GT3 of Augusto Farfus after drama on the second-to-final lap between the two leaders.

Marciello, who started on pole courtesy of his victory in the Qualifying Race on Saturday, led the field away in a safety car start due to track conditions that lasted five laps before the 22-car field were let loose with 11 laps remaining.

The Swiss-flagged driver then held command over fellow BMW factory driver Dries Vanthoor until he was passed by the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Antonio Fucco for second on Lap 8.

Vanthoor then slammed into the wall to end his day just a few corners later, promoting Engel to third.

A daring move by Fuoco around Marciello with three laps to go saw the Italian briefly take the lead, only for the two drivers to end up in the run-off area while battling each other, paving the way for Engel’s dramatic win.

Engel still took the victory despite having been handed a five-second post-race time penalty for causing a collision with Dries Vanthoor, which was communicated on the final lap.

He crossed the line with enough of a margin over Farfus, while Sheldon van der Linde completed the podium in the No. 31 Team WRT BMW in third.

Marciello, who was seeking his third GT World Cup title and a sweep of the weekend, ended the race in the pit lane, while Fuoco was classified in ninth.

More to come…

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John