16 Cars Confirmed for FIA GT World Cup; No Mercedes-AMG

A 16-car entry list has been announced for this year’s FIA GT World Cup on the streets of Macau, with Mercedes-AMG notably absent.

Revealed on Monday, the size of the grid for the Nov. 13-16 event marks a significant reduction from last year’s race, which featured a 22-car field, although the number of marques remains steady at six with McLaren replacing Mercedes-AMG on the roster.

Porsche is the best represented manufacturer with five entries, while Ferrari and Audi have three each, BMW and Lamborghini two each, and McLaren just one.

It follows the decision to mandate torque sensors for the end-of-season street event, a development that SRO boss Stephane Ratel warned earlier in the year would likely lead to a reduced grid due to the costs involved.

Mercedes-AMG was the most vocal manufacturer in opposition of the move — although other brands, most notably Porsche, expressed support in the interests of helping create the fairest possible Balance of Performance for the event.

Audi Motorsport Asia confirmed to Sportscar365 that it has opted to develop torque sensors specifically for Macau despite factory support for the Ingolstadt marque’s GT3 program outside of Asia having come to an end.

The withdrawal of Mercedes-AMG, which equips cars with torque sensors in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, means that Maro Engel will not be back to defend his 2024 Macau crown.

However, the field will still feature three former winners: Edoardo Mortara in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for Absolute Corse, Laurens Vanthoor in an Absolute-run Porsche 911 GT3 R and Raffaele Marciello in a Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Completing the five-strong Porsche lineup alongside Vanthoor are Alessio Picariello, Laurin Heinrich, newly-crowned DTM champion Ayhancan Guven and Porsche Motorsport Asia-Pacific Selected Driver Dorian Boccolacci.

Both Guven and Boccolacci will be making their Macau debuts for the Schumacher CLRT and Phantom Global Racing teams respectively.

Phantom Global is also responsible for running two of the three Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II entries for Joel Eriksson and Christopher Haase, under the FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom banner, with the third Audi fielded by Uno Racing for Adderly Fong.

Ferrari Hypercar racers Antonio Fuoco and Yifei Ye return after racing at Macau last year for AF Corse and Harmony Racing respectively.

The third Ferrari 296 GT3 on the grid is to be driven by GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS regular Deng Yi for Winhere Motorsports.

Making up the entry are Sheldon van der Linde in a sole Team WRT BMW, Luca Engstler in the second Absolute Corse Lamborghini and Benjamin Goethe in the sole McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, entered by Optimum Motorsport.

This year’s FIA GT World Cup features a revised qualifying format, with a Super Pole session being held for the top ten drivers from the 30-minute qualifying session.

The results of Super Pole will set the upper end of the grid for the 12-lap qualification race, which will be followed by the 16-lap main race.