FIA GT World Cup: Raffaele Marciello on the podium in Macau.

Macau. BMW M Motorsport celebrated another success at the FIA GT World Cup in the narrow street canyons of Macau (CHN): Raffaele Marciello (SUI) claimed second place on the podium in the #53 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of ROWE Racing. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) delivered a strong comeback drive in the Team WRT #31 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, sporting its special Shell livery. His charge brought him up to sixth place in Sunday’s main race. The FIA GT World Cup, held as part of the legendary Macau Grand Prix on the Guia Circuit, traditionally marks the spectacular finale of the GT3 racing season.

After Friday’s qualifying session came the 12-lap qualification race on Saturday, followed by the 16-lap main race on Sunday. Marciello secured fifth place in qualifying. Van der Linde was unlucky as after making contact with the track barrier he was unable to set a timed lap and had to start the qualification race from the back of the grid. In Saturday’s sprint race, which determined the starting positions for Sunday, both BMW M4 GT3 EVOs moved forward. Marciello finished fourth, while van der Linde improved to 13th and was then promoted to 12th after a competitor received a penalty.

In the main race, Marciello seized his chance immediately at the start and sprinted up to second place – a podium position he held until the finish line. Van der Linde gained several positions in the turbulent opening stage and later executed a brilliant overtaking manoeuvre on the tight street circuit to take sixth place. The winner of the main race was Antonio Fuoco (ITA / Ferrari), who had already taken pole position and won the qualification race.

Reactions after FIA GT World Cup in Macau:

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “The second place in Macau this year was a great performance by Raffaele. Gaining positions right at the start was the key to the podium after starting from fourth. Congratulations to Ferrari; I think we were simply missing the pace to keep up with Antonio Fuoco. Given that, we are happy with second place. For Sheldon, it was unfortunate that he couldn’t set a time in Friday’s qualifying. We all know that qualifying is crucial here on this narrow street circuit in Macau. Nevertheless, he gave a great performance and worked his way from the very back to sixth place in the main race over the course of the weekend. Many thanks to ROWE Racing, to Team WRT, and to everyone at BMW M Motorsport. Now we wrap up the season and focus fully on the new year.”

Raffaele Marciello (ROWE Racing, #53 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 2nd place main race, 4th place qualification race ): “Our qualifying was not the best, for sure. When you start from fifth it’s always difficult to fight your way to the front. But we had a good first sector and in the main race, there was the opportunity to overtake at the start. But in the end we also need to admit that the Ferrari was too quick. I tried my best and second place was the maximum I could do today.”

Sheldon van der Linde (Team WRT, #31 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 6th place main race, 12th place qualification race ): “Unfortunately it has not been the weekend we came here for. We obviously wanted to try to win the race, that was my main goal coming into the weekend. But it started off on the wrong foot in qualifying with a mistake that I take responsibility for. We had to start at the back of the field in the qualifying race, had a very good start but then unfortunately got spun around in turn three. So that was another rollercoaster we had to go through. But in the main race, we gained a lot of places at the start and I was able to capitalise on others making mistakes. So, yes, we are happy with the end, even if it didn’t start how we wanted it to. But from P16 to P6: we would have signed that before the race.”