Can Mercedes defend its GT World Cup?

Manufacturer entries from Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche are taking on Mercedes in this weekend's FIA GT World Cup. But despite losing its two-time defending winner to BMW, Mercedes still has another proven Macau ace up its sleeve who has Edoardo Mortara's record for GT wins in his sights

Raffaele Marciello’s victory in the 2023 FIA GT World Cup was his final act as a Mercedes driver before joining BMW. The only two-time winner of the single-driver GT3 event since it gained FIA status in 2015 will return this weekend for his maiden Macau appearance aboard an M4 and is among a star-studded 23-car entry list comprising eight regulars from the World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar class.

But even without Marciello, Mercedes still has every chance of ending its year on a high by defending the title. In addition to 2011 Macau Grand Prix winner Dani Juncadella and Bathurst ace Jules Gounon, both entered by Craft-Bamboo Racing, the Affalterbach brand also has proven Macau expert Maro Engel, who is vying for a fourth victory at the Guia Circuit. The inaugural GT World Cup winner in 2015 also claimed Macau GT Cup glory in 2014 and 2022, before the World Cup’s post-COVID resumption last year.

“Winning Macau again would be the icing on the cake” for Engel after a season in which he became GT World Challenge Sprint champion, led the line as Mercedes clinched the DTM manufacturers’ title by finishing third and took a new Nordschleife lap record for good measure in the AMG One hypercar.

A regular in recent years with Kenny Chen’s GruppeM team, which is entered under the Mercedes AMG Team GMR banner in Macau, Engel notes that it has not visited the street track since 2019 “so we do have a little bit of set-up work that we’ll have to get through, but I have all the confidence in the guys that they’ll give me a strong package”.

That confidence is grounded in the inherent traits of the Mercedes-AMG GT3, a car that was last beaten in the headline GT event by Augusto Farfus’s BMW M6 in 2018. The weapon of choice during the three ‘COVID’ editions of the Macau GT Cup also triumphed with Edoardo Mortara in 2017. Engel explains that it “really gives you a lot of confidence, a lot of good feedback, so it’s a car you can really push hard in that very limited space where you’ll hit the wall if you make a mistake”.

Taking in Macau in 2022, where Engel triumphed after Marciello visited the escape road, “was definitely a help” when the full international contingent returned last year. Remaining with Craft-Bamboo, Engel finished second to Marciello (Landgraf) in the qualifying race before transmission woes blunted his challenge in the main event.

Having switched camps for this year, he says “I don’t see a downside to the single-car entry we have” because data sharing arrangements that are standard between AMG performance teams at the biggest GT3 events means “we’ll be feeding off each other” to continue the run of Mercedes success. A fourth car will be entered for Ralf Aron by Toro Racing.

All teams will use the same Pirelli tyres as in DTM and GTWCE, removing one variable, but Engel is taking nothing for granted. The 39-year-old expects that Marciello (Toro Racing powered by MCG) will again be a force with BMW, after Farfus finished third last year, and singles out Mortara, four times a Macau GT winner, as another name to watch in VSR Theodore Racing’s Lamborghini.

It isn’t lost on Engel that every previous winner from the previous six editions of the World Cup, including Farfus (Team KRC BMW) and Laurens Vanthoor (Absolute Racing Porsche) is on the grid this year.

“There’s a lot of depth in the field for the other manufacturers as well, so it won’t be an easy task,” he concludes. “We want to see the best drivers, the best teams and the best manufacturers fight it out on what probably is the biggest challenge in our calendar, so it’s a massive highlight of the year.”

Huff looks to get back into top Guia for tin-top contest

“I hate the place; it scares the crap out of me!” Surprising words from Rob Huff, the only man on four wheels to be in double figures for Macau victories, and who has ventured to the Far East once more for another crack at glory in the classic Guia tin-top clash.

These days, the Macau Guia doubles up as a round of the TCR World Tour. Huff, of course, left this series for 2024 in order to return to the British Touring Car Championship, but returned to the global contest for last month’s Zhuzhou round and Macau with Spanish team Volcano Motorsport and the same model of Audi RS3 LMS that he raced in 2023.

As ever, the title battle for this, the final round of the TCR series, is finely poised. Norbert Michelisz, bidding for his third world crown with Hyundai, sits at the top of the tree, but Esteban Guerrieri (Honda), Thed Bjork and Yann Ehrlacher (Lynk & Co), and Michelisz’s team-mate Mikel Azcona are all in the picture.

“Macau is one of those places…” Huff expands. “I love getting in the groove there, when my brain and the car are in harmony. And I have the outright front-wheel-drive record around there [from 2017 when he raced the Citroen C-Elysee from the potent TC1 regulations], and a TCR car’s never going to get near it, that’s for sure.

“We’ve had some luck around there. When I won in the Lada [in 2014], Tiago Monteiro was driving superbly in the lead but then we had a safety car and he lost his power steering. But I’ve also been unlucky. It’s not just about you being in harmony; Macau chooses you as well. So many things can go right or wrong out there.”

After a low-key Zhuzhou, the hope is that the Audi’s balance of performance will be kinder in Macau.

“It’s not been touched for 12 months,” points out Huff. “And the other teams have been developing. The outright pace in qualifying is lacking a bit, but it has good straightline speed for the race. The main thing is qualify in the top 10, get that reversed grid, and have a full send in race two.”

Follow the live action from this year's Macau Grand Prix on Autosport.com and Motorsport.tv here.