Picariello: Porsche “Has What it Takes Now” in Macau

Alessio Picariello believes that Porsche “has what it takes now” to contend for victory in the FIA GT World Cup after finishing third behind the Ferraris of Antonio Fuoco and Yifei Ye in Saturday’s Qualifying Race on the streets of Macau.

The driver of the No. 911 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R maintained his grid position in the 12-lap race that sets the grid for Sunday’s main event after repelling an early challenge from the ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Raffaele Marciello.

Picariello stuck close behind Ye’s Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 for the remaining laps but was unable to line up a move to pass for second.

The result marked an improvement on last year’s Qualifying Race, in which the Picariello led the Porsche contingent in sixth before improving to fourth in the Main Race, and follows the introduction of torque sensors for this year’s World Cup.

While declaring himself “frustrated” at being unable to pass Ye, Picariello expressed optimism that Porsche can still contend for Main Race honors on Sunday.

“It was very difficult,” Picariello recalled. “I was pretty quick in the mountain, that’s where I could make the difference compared to the BMW, but I was stuck behind the Ferrari in front. The BMW was close enough to try and attack me.

“That car is so quick on the straights, and for us in the first few laps, it’s so difficult. Then I saw he was struggling a bit on his tires, and I was feeling better and better. Also Yifei was getting quicker, which helped me to get a gap to the BMW before the last sector.

“I’m a little bit frustrated because it felt like we had a lot of pace, but to overtake here in Macau is very difficult. But I think we have what it takes now.”

Asked about his chances of taking the fight to Ferrari on Sunday, Picariello added: “We are quite close — maybe we are a little bit quicker in some places on the mountain. They are a little bit quicker out of the last corner, which helped them for raceability.

“With the Ferrari, it’s going to be tight, it’s going to be hard, but it can be fair.

“With the BMW it will be tough, but they struggle in the mountain and the race tomorrow is longer [16 laps], so they will struggle more, I guess.”

Vanthoor Admits Repaired Car Didn’t Feel the Same

In the sister No. 992 Absolute Porsche, Laurens Vanthoor finished a distant 11th having started in the same position after being delayed at Turn 1.

That followed the team’s lengthy repair job after Vanthoor’s crash at Mandarin at the very end of first practice on Thursday, which left the Belgian driver sidelined for second practice and rendered him uncompetitive for qualifying on Friday.

While paying tribute to Absolute for repairing the car in time for qualifying, Vanthoor admitted that he knew immediately upon leaving the pits for the first segment of qualifying that the feeling he had in first practice, which he topped, was gone.

“I think my second timed lap in FP1 was quicker than my qualifying lap, which says enough!” Vanthoor told Sportscar365.

“Hats off to all the mechanics because they did the best they could to make the car drive safely, which is does, but the performance was gone. It felt like a bit of a potato. It sucks a bit because you have to live it with for the rest of the weekend.

“The way I felt in FP1, I have been here often, and it was one of the best feelings I’ve had in the car here. Obviously Ferrari is very strong, so I am not saying I would have definitely beat them [without the crash], but I think I would be up there giving it a go.”

Recalling the opening lap, Vanthoor said the chaos was triggered by contact between Edoardo Mortara’s Lamborghini and the Porsche of Laurin Heinrich, which also left Christopher Haase’s Audi in the barriers and delayed two others.

From there, Vanthoor was only able to recover one position at the expense of Adderly Fong’s Uno Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

“Overtaking is never easy here, especially with the Porsche because our strength is in the mountain but it is not possible to overtake,” said Vanthoor. “I had to risk my life in Turn 2 [Mandarin] to overtake. I overtook one car, but that was it.

“We have a little bit better straight line speed than last year, but it is still not our strength. It has never been for Porsche in ten years at Macau.”