Mercedes-AMG factory drivers Raffaele Marciello and Maro Engel will take part in this weekend’s Macau GT Cup as part of a 16-car entry.
The European GT3 stars join Formula E race winner Edoardo Mortara as overseas participants in the GT element of the Macau Grand Prix held on the Guia sreet course.
Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS champion Marciello, who won Macau when it was known as the FIA GT World Cup in 2019, will drive a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo run by Chinese outfit TORO Racing which took victory the following year.
Engel, the 2014 and 2015 Macau winner, is representing Craft-Bamboo Racing in a Mercedes-AMG, while four-time winner Mortara was previously confirmed with Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute.
Having previously attracted European teams and factory drivers under the FIA GT World Cup moniker, Macau was restricted to a domestic event without FIA organization during the COVID-19 pandemic, as border restrictions came into force.
However, the partial easing of those measures has enabled some overseas drivers to take part this year, provided that they observe a seven-day quarantine.
In addition to Marciello’s Mercedes-AMG, TORO Racing is fielding Porsche 911 GT3 Rs for China-based Swiss driver Alexandre Imperatori and China’s Heng Min.
Last year’s Macau winner and Craft-Bamboo Racing team director Darryl O’Young will seek to defend his crown with the Hong Kong-based Mercedes-AMG squad.
Mercedes-AMG and Audi are the best-represented brands with five cars each.
The latter’s representation includes Adderly Fong for Uno Racing, Congfu Cheng for FAW Audi Racing Team and Qi Cao for Phantom Pro Racing.
Phantom Pro is also fielding a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo for 2018 24 Hours of Spa Silver Cup class winner Kang Ling.
Harmony Racing will run a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 for Weian Chen, while Ian Veng Leong is bringing the only BMW — an older generation M6 GT3 — to the grid.
Many of the teams including Harmony, Phantom Pro and TORO regularly compete against each other in the China Endurance Championship and China GT.
The opening eight-lap race is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. (2:10 a.m. ET) on Saturday, with the 12-lap Macau GT Cup decider taking place at 1:05 p.m. (12:05 a.m.) on Sunday.