Engel Snatches Macau Win in Dramatic Rain-Soaked Main Race

Photo: FIA

Maro Engel snatched the FIA GT World Cup title away from Antonio Fuoco and Raffaele Marciello following late-race drama for the two leaders in Sunday’s Main Race championship-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 heading into the penultimate 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 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.

Engel became a two-time GT World Cup champion and four-time Macau winner, while extending Mercedes-AMG’s win streak at the Guia Circuit to six consecutive races when counting the national GT Cup events held during the COVID years.

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.

Alessio Picariello and Laurens Vanthoor rounded out the top-five in their Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, with Christopher Haase sixth for Phantom Global Racing in his Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

Edoardo Mortara was seventh in the No. 63 SJM VSR Theodore Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, in a race that saw his teammate Matteo Cairoli retire in the run-off area with a suspected issue.

The No. 36 FAW Audi Sport Asia Racing Team entry of Ricardo Feller was eighth, with Dani Juncadella completing the top-ten in his Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG.

RESULTS: Main Race

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