Edoardo Mortara
Five of the world’s most famous manufacturers have signed on to race in the inaugural FIA GT World Cup. Aston Martin, Audi, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche will be represented on the grid as manufacturers’ teams, and will battle it out right here in Macau for the first-
ever FIA GT World Cup title.
In his statement, Mr Christian Schacht, president of the FIA GT Commission, expressed his excitement to see the cars on track, saying: “This is the result of two success stories: the FIA GT3 concept used in the majority of GT championships all over the world; and the legendary Macau Grand Prix.”
Maro Engel
Renger Van Der Zande
Of course, a car without a driver is only half complete, and the drivers’ entry list shows the successful combination highlighted by Mr Schacht, with some of the finest tried-and-tested GT drivers in Europe and the Asia-Pacific stepping up for the first FIA GT World Cup. Among them will be five previous winners on the Guia circuit in various categories.
Germany’s Maro Engel, winner of the Macau GT Cup last year, will return with the Mercedes AMG Driving Academy. A five-time winner on the Guia Circuit, “Mr. Macau” Edoardo Mortara is lined up to chase his sixth victory in a brand-new Audi R8 LMS.
Engel’s teammate at Mercedes, Renger Van Der Zande, already proved his value during last year Macau GT Cup, finishing second. This year, he will be aiming for nothing less than the top step of the podium.
Hong Kong’s Craft-Bamboo Racing will represent Aston Martin, with former Macau GT Cup winner Darryl O’Young racing alongside two experienced WEC drivers, Stefan Mücke and Richard Lyons.
Brit McLaren also does not want to go down without a fight, and has lined up a set of experienced drivers for the Guia Circuit. Frenchman Kevin Estre, an experienced FIA Endurance driver, is competing as a last-minute replacement for Briton William Buller on the FFF Racing Team, partnering with local hero and former Macau F3 champion André Couto (recently crowned GT champion in Japan) and Portugal’s Alvaro Parente, another very experienced driver and long-time racer for McLaren.
Germany’s Porsche is bringing all the artillery, starting with 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Earl Bamber of New Zealand. Bamber has entered as part of LKM Racing’s team. He will be partnering with Porsche Carrera Cup Asia’s Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak from Thailand and a talented newcomer, Dylan Derdaele of Belgium.
In addition to the five main manufacturers racing for the title, there will be other entries to look out for. We cannot forget the three Ferrari entries: Thailand’s Pasin Lathouras on the AF Corse team, and also Singapore’s Mok Weng Sun, who will be competing in the colors of Clearwater Racing.
Not racing for the title but always competitive, Bentley will field former two-time Macau GT Cup winner Keita Sawa of Japan, his GT Asia Series teammate Adderly Fong of Hong Kong, and Jacky Yeung, also of Hong Kong – all signed in by Absolute Racing. Out of the factory teams, two more Audis will participate, driven by Taiwan’s Jeffrey Lee and Hong Kong’s Philip Ma.
All of the ingredients seem to be prepared for a fantastic first-ever FIA GT World Cup.
Racers visit some of the city’s landmarks
Participants met with enthusiastic primary school students
Around 40 Macau Grand Prix racers visited the territory’s iconic A-Ma Temple yesterday afternoon, before heading to a brief meeting with enthusiastic primary school students at the Macau Science Centre.
The legion of top racers visited the temple as a way to mark a decade since the region’s historic center was entered into UNESCO’s World Heritage list. After that, the group headed for the center, where they handed out autographed posters to schoolboys from two Portuguese schools.
Their appearance in the city also attracted a curious crowd. Local racer Chang Wing Chung, who will be participating in the Formula 3 (F3) event, told the media that he could not wait to take to the circuit.
“I hope I can go faster this year and get into the top ten,” said the secondary school teenager, who finished 19th out of 21 last year.
Daniel Juncadella, the 2011 winner of the F3 race is Chang’s teammate this year for Fortec Motorsport, a group with a wealth of experience in this region’s races, and Chang believed that the top racer could offer him insights into the competition.
Stuart Easton, who is the defending champion in the motorcycle race after triumphing last year, said he has fully recovered from his broken leg sustained during the first British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch in July.
Go Renger! Take the win this year.