Engel: ‘Incredible Emotions’ After Macau ‘Golden Opportunity’

Photo: Mercedes-AMG

Maro Engel hailed an unlikely victory in Sunday’s FIA GT World Cup title-deciding Main Race, admitting he was handed the “golden opportunity” to take the win after the top two runners dropped out in dramatic fashion with less than two laps to go.

Engel scored his second GT World Cup title and fourth win on the Guia Circuit, while securing Mercedes-AMG its sixth consecutive GT Cup win following a wild rain-soaked race that saw leaders Raffaele Marciello and Antonio Fuoco end up in the run-off.

The German, who started the race third, lost a position early on to Fuoco’s AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 but regained third after making slight contact with the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Dries Vanthoor, who ended up in hitting the barriers.

However, it was Fuoco’s charge around Marciello for the lead with three laps to go that ultimately opened the door for Engel to take the lead when the Italian driver and reigning GT World Cup winner both ran into the run-off after contact.

“We had great pace,” said Engel. “I was able to close them down. But then from our of Melco Hairpin, you kind of wave goodbye to them. They just keep pulling away until Turn 3.

“There’s no real chance even though I was taking all the risks I could through [Turns] 1 and 2. There was no just chance to even think of a move.

“I knew it had to come down to something that they started to battle.

“When that happened, that was the golden opportunity for us.”

When asked to reflect on his achievement, Engel said: “Incredible emotions.”

He added: “It was an incredible race for sure, a lot happening there. For sure it feels amazing.

“To be honest we didn’t expect this because, especially in the dry we didn’t really have a chance to fight [for the win]. Even a podium was difficult.

“We knew rain would be our only chance. I guess everything came together for us when Antonio and Lello went straight, that’s what we needed.

“A big thank you to Mercedes-AMG Team GMR, to everyone at Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing. They gave me an amazing car all weekend, which he hung on trying to compete with [BMW] and with the Ferrari.

“In the end 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.”

Engel crucially finished six seconds clear of the second-placed Team KRC BMW of Augusto Farfus, after picking up a five-second post-race penalty for his incident with Vanthoor, who was one of two retirements from the race.

“I want to say sorry to Dries,” said Engel. “It’s unfortunate 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. [I’m] sorry to him for that.”

Wendl: Engel Victory Took “A Little Bit of Luck”

Mercedes-AMG customer racing boss Stefan Wendl admitted that the German brand’s triumph came with “a bit of luck” on Sunday.

“We didn’t expect to come to this first step of the podium,” admitted Wendl. “It is our ninth victory with our GT family and sixth victory for our crew and car in a row. It’s just amazing.

“This victory is even more satisfying as it was a very tricky event overall.

“Qualifying was affected by the red flag and we managed to stay close to the lead but we recognized that this time we didn’t have the pace to do it on our own.

“Everything we tried was to stay close and be ready if a door opens.

“It was a little bit of luck. At the end the door opens. We’ve been ready to take this victory. It’s really, really nice.

“I’m really happy to my team, GruppeM Racing, they gave a lot, and to finish the season with the 130 years of Mercedes motorsport with a victory for the World Cup is amazing.”

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