Marciello Takes Controlling Qualifying Race Win in Macau

Photo: FIA

Raffaele Marciello converted pole into the Qualifying Race win on Saturday in Macau, putting the BMW driver in prime position for a potential third FIA GT World Cup title.

The Swiss-flagged driver briefly lost the lead at the start of the 12-lap incident-free contest to fellow factory driver Dries Vanthoor, although retook the top position just a few corners later at Lisboa.

Marciello, in his No. 1 Toro Racing powered by MCG BMW M4 GT3, then maintained his lead over the Belgian driver for the duration of the sprint race on the Guia Circuit to take a 0.666-second win.

Vanthoor came home second, in only his second Macau appearance, ahead of Antonio Fuoco, who completed the podium in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

The Italian driver got around the No. 130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Maro Engel at the start and managed to hold off the inaugural FIA GT World Cup champion for the position.

Augusto Farfus completed the top-five in the No. 89 KRC BMW, followed by Sheldon van der Linde, who made it four BMWs in the top-six despite a post-qualifying Balance of Performance adjustment.

The South African set the race’s fastest lap on the final tour.

Alessio Picariello was the highest-placed Porsche runner in seventh, ahead of Absolute Racing teammate Laurens Vanthoor in eighth.

Christopher Haase was ninth in his Phantom Global Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, with Edoardo Mortara completing the top-ten in the No. 63 SJM VSR Theodore Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

Mortara held off a hard-charging Ricardo Feller in the No. 36 FAW Audi Sport Asia Racing Team entry, which was 11th.

Unlike qualifying, Saturday’s qualifying race ran without any accidents, which saw 22 of the 23 entries take the start and checkered flag, with Jules Gounon’s Mercedes-AMG bringing up the rear after apparent lingering issues from his accident in qualifying.

Luca Engstler’s Lamborghini, which crashed heavily on Friday, was withdrawn from the remainder of the weekend after sustaining significant damage that curtailed that session.

The 16-lap Main Race is set for Sunday at 12:25 p.m. local time (Saturday, 11:25 p.m. ET) with live coverage on the FIA’s YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Qualifying 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