Same names, different machines

Raffaele Marciello

Now in its seventh year, the FIA GT World Cup for GT3 specification cars race has received deserved attention.

The race’s main attraction is not in the names of those involved, nor in the car manufacturers that are joining the field as they mostly repeat themselves from previous editions but in the fact that most of the former winners are returning to Macau in different cars.

At the top of the list is the return of last year’s winner, Raffaele Marciello, who will defend his title obtained with Mercedes-AMG at the wheel of perhaps Mercedes’ major competitor – BMW.

Daniel Juncadella

Marciello will take a seat at Toro Racing’s BMW M4 GT3, a similar car that will also see another former GT World Cup winner take on Guia Circuit this year, Augusto Farfus, although Farfus will be racing with Team KRC.

Also returning to the Guia circuit and also in a different car is “Mr Macau” Edoardo Mortara, who, once again, changes manufacturer for the GT World Cup event.

After winning in 2017 in Mercedes-AMG and also achieving a third-place finish in 2018 in the same car, Mortara returned to his origins in 2022 with second place overall in an Audi R8 LMS EVO 2, a position he repeated last year in the same car.

This time, he will be at the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2s from SJM VSR Theodore Racing team, a car that is yet to prove its worth at the Guia Circuit.

Other previous winners are returning this year eager for more laurels, such as Maro Engel and Laurens Vanthoor.

Also present at the GT World Cup will be several drivers who have achieved good results in Macau in other racing categories, such as the F3.

Examples are Daniel Juncadella and Antonio Fuoco.

Joining these are others such as Chinese GT star Leo Ye, who won the Macau GT Cup race in 2020, and Ferrari Factory Driver Ye Yifei.

The competition was also mentioned by FIA’s president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who, in a video message to local organizers, noted the competition continues to grow and has an “even stronger lineup” this year.