FIA GT World Cup Returns to Macau

Photo: Mercedes-AMG

The FIA GT World Cup will return to Macau for the first time in four years, having been confirmed as part of the Macau Grand Prix weekend on Nov. 16-19.

Announced on Monday, the event, featuring professional GT3 drivers, will have World Cup status after several years of the event being run as a national GT Cup race due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Macau, and neighboring mainland China, lifted all COVID-19 restrictions in February, resulting in no mandatory hotel quarantine for foreign travelers, which severely impacted the international participation of the event.

Two 30-minute practice sessions will be on tap followed by a single qualifying session and two races, consisting of 12 and 16 laps, respectively.

A total of 17 GT3 cars took part in the last Macau event under world cup status in 2019, including factory-supported entries from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche.

Entries will open on July 1 with the deadlines set for Aug. 31.

“The return of the FIA GT World Cup is great news,” said FIA circuit sport department director Marek Nawarecki.

“The volume of manufacturers involved and homologated cars make the GT3 platform the FIA’s most successful customer racing category.

“It is therefore important that it has its own pinnacle in the form of a standalone sprint format event awarding an FIA World Cup title.

“The importance of the GT3 class will further grow, therefore having FIA racing back at the streets of Macau is an extremely positive development for all involved, including the fans as this circuit has always produced great racing.

“I’m expecting a strong entry with wide range of GT3 models and with some of the world’s best GT drivers on the grid.”

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