Marciello Quickest in Macau FP1

Photo: Mercedes-AMG

Raffaele Marciello laid down a late flyer to go quickest in the opening practice for this weekend’s FIA GT World Cup in Macau.

The Swiss-flagged driver, in his final race as a Mercedes-AMG factory driver, reeled off a best lap of 2:16.150 in the No. 48 Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Marciello edged out the No. 99 Toro Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Laurens Vanthoor, who was second, ahead of third-placed Matteo Cairoli, one of a number of Macau rookies, in the No. 120 Absolute Porsche.

Kevin Estre in the No. 27 HubAuto Racing Porsche and Maro Engel’s Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes completed the top-five overall.

Engel’s teammate Dani Juncadella was sixth, followed by Sheldon van der Linde, another rookie, in seventh and Edoardo Mortara in the highest-placed Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

The 30-minute session went without any major incidents.

Marchy Lee’s Toro Racing Mercedes-AMG came briefly to a halt on track at the start of the session, while Daniel Serra, in the No. 51 Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, caused a bottleneck at the Melco Hairpin.

Estre, meanwhile, clipped the barrier in Turn 15 but continued in his Porsche without any apparent damage.

The second and final practice session is set for a 4:10 p.m. local start time.

RESULTS: Free Practice 1

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