The 2015 FIA GT World Cup was the race's inaugural edition and the eighth time

Grand Touring A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either a ...

(GT) sports car machinery participated in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

's autonomous territory. On November 22, it was staged in the streets of the city as a non-championship race as part of the GT Asia Series in GT3-spec cars. The

Automobile General Association Macau-China A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

appointed the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) to assist in establishing a grid. The race itself consisted of two races: a 12-lap qualification race that determined the starting grid for the 14-lap main race. Mercedes AMG Driving Academy driver

Maro Engel Maro René Engel (born 27 August 1985) is a German professional racing driver based in Monaco. He is a long-time Mercedes-AMG factory driver, FIA GT World Cup Champion, Nürburgring 24 hour winner, DTM race winner, Suzuka 10h winner, Macau GT ...

won the main race from

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

after winning the Qualification Race the previous day after on-track victor Edoardo Mortara was penalised ten seconds for brake testing him. Mortara accelerated faster than Engel during the rolling start, but he quickly lost the lead to the former. Engel then dominated the rest of the race, which was stopped two laps early due to a multi-car accident behind the safety car, and the result was recalculated two laps back. René Rast finished second in his Audi R8 LMS, while Stefan Mücke completed the podium in his Craft-Bamboo Racing entered Aston Martin Vantage V12.

Entry list and rules

To enter the

FIA GT World Cup The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

in Macau, drivers had to compete in a

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...

(FIA)-regulated championship based on GT3 regulations. On 11 September 2015,

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

and

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

were announced as the five manufacturers accepted to enter the event that was open to any car model meeting GT3 rules. Manufacturers could enter up to three drivers through

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

teams, and the teams representing manufacturers could field both

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and platinum ranked drivers; bronze and silver-rated entrants were considered on a case-by-case basis by the FIA GT World Cup Committee. On October 7, 2015, the FIA GT World Cup entry list was released. The first list of participants had 22 drivers, including 2014 Macau GT Cup race winner

, two-time Macau Grand Prix victor Edoardo Mortara, and

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

co-winner

Earl Bamber Earl Anderson Bamber (born 9 July 1990) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, currently competing as a factory driver for Porsche Motorsport in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class. He is the 2014 Porsche Supercup and ...

. René Rast, a

World Endurance Championship World Endurance Championship may refer to: * FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series held since 2012 * World Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series which used the title World Endurance Championship from 1981 to 1985 * Endura ...

participant, was called in as a late replacement for Laurens Vanthoor, who withdrew from the race on doctor's orders after injuring his hip at the

Misano World Circuit The Misano World Circuit (officially known as Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli or Misano Circuit Sic 58, and before 2006 called Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica) is a race track located next to the town of Misano Adriatico (Province of R ...

Blancpain Sprint Series The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, officially known as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly the FIA GT Series, is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) ...

round.

Background

The 2015 FIA GT World Cup was the event's maiden running and the eighth time

(GT) cars contested in Macau. It took place on November 22, 2015, at the 6.2 km (3.9 mi) 22-turn Guia Circuit, after three days of practise and qualifying. The motorsport promoter Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) elected not to renew its contract with the FIA two years before the 2015 FIA GT World Cup, and in early 2013, the SRO's founder, Stéphane Ratel, proposed creating a race for the finest teams and drivers. These proposals were dormant for a while until an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

saw the idea resurface and eventually confirmed by the sport's governing body on 20 March 2015. It was the first collaboration between Ratel and the FIA since the

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand to ...

disbanded. The FIA GT World Cup was granted its status after the World Touring Car Championship stopped travelling to Macau, and it replaced the Baku World Challenge which was discontinued that year when

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

announced it would hold a race in the city from

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. The Automobile General Association Macao-China, the race's promoter, asked the SRO to assist in forming a grid.

Practice and qualifying

Stefan Mücke Le Mans drivers parade 2011 crop

There was one 30-minute practice session each on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning before Sunday's race. Renger van der Zande set the quickest lap for the Mercedes AMG Driving Academy SLS GT3 in the first practise session at 2 minutes, 20.796 seconds, two-tenths of a second faster than anybody else. In second place was his brandmate Engel. Mortara finished third in the lone

Audi Sport Team Phoenix Phoenix Racing is a motor racing team based at the Nürburgring in Germany. The team competes in series such as the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and FIA GT1 World Championship and was the winner of the 2022 24 Hours of Nürburgring with the car ...

R8 LMS entry. Darryl O'Young's Aston Martin V12 Vantage finished fourth. Bamber was the fastest Porsche competitor, finishing fifth. Positions six through ten were filled by Stefan Mücke,

André Couto André Couto (; born 14 December 1976) is a MacaneseRichard Lyons. Engel led for the majority of the second practice session until Mücke passed him with a time of 2 minutes, 20.082 seconds, the fastest lap of the weekend at the time. Van Der Zande finished second, 0.021 seconds slower, with Adderly Fong third Engel was fourth, and Bamber fifth, repeating his first practise session performance. Positions six through ten were filled by O'Young, Mortara, Álvaro Parente, his teammate

Kévin Estre Kévin Estre (born 28 October 1988) is a French professional racing driver. He is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in the GTE PRO class. Career Karting Born in Lyon, Estre began his racing career in kart ...

, and Rast. Friday afternoon's half-hour qualifying session determined the starting order for the qualification race through each driver's fastest lap times. Before he hit an inside kerbstone at Mandarin Corner and lost control of his car, which then drifted into a barrier (the first of three stoppages), Engel was the early leader in qualifying. Engel took responsibility for the collision and apologised to his team. Van Der Zande's crash into a wall at Paiol caused qualifying to be turn red-flagged qualifying for the second time to repair the barriers. With less than 12 minutes remaining. Audi devised a strategy to let Mortara to drive in clear air for a

effort. But Cuoto experienced oversteer and severely damaged his car in an incident at Mandarin curve, which ricocheted between the barriers. Cuoto's crash, which left him unhurt, led to the session's third and last interruption. With six minutes left in qualifying, Mortara started recording fast sector times to take provisional pole before Mücke passed him with a lap of 2 minutes, 18.032 seconds. Mücke was joined on the grid's front row by Mortara. Engel's accident left him in third. Rast was fourth, Van Der Zande fifth and O'Young sixth. O'Young's teammate Lyons was seventh. Bamber, Fong and Parente were eighth to tenth, respectively. Estre was the fastest driver not to qualify in the top ten, ahead of teammate Cuoto, Sawa, Marchy Lee, the Thai duo of Pasin Lathouras and Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak, Dylan Derdaele, Jeffrey Lee, Weng Sun Mok and

Philip Ma Philip Ma Ching Yeung (: 馬清揚) (born 1 May 1963) is a racing driver from Hong Kong, who has raced in the World Touring Car Championship. Personal life Philip Ma's family are owners of the Tai Sang Bank. He married his wife Winnie Chin in 19 ...

. John Shen and Jacky Yeung completed the 22 qualifiers.

Qualifying classification

Qualifying race

At 12:15

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( UTC+08:00), the qualifying race to set the main race's starting order began under dry and cloudy conditions with the air and track temperatures at and . At the start, Mücke stopped Mortara's overtake to retain the lead into Mandarin turn, before Engel used his straightline speed to pass Mortara for second position approaching Lisboa corner. Rast dropped to fifth as brandmate Marchy Lee gained another position before turning into Lisboa corner. Despite matching his pace earlier in the race, Engel was unable to challenge Mücke because the leader controlled his speed; both men pulled away from the trailing Mortara and Van Der Zande. Fong lost control of his Bentley Continental GT and crashed heavily at the Solitude Esses on the third lap. The safety car was deployed a lap later to neutralise the order because his car was stranded in the centre of the track. At the lap eight restart, Mücke got away cleanly to lead the race back up to speed, with Engel and Mortara close behind. Simultaneously, fourth-placed Van Der Zande sought but failed to move up the order. Engel had to take evasive action when Mücke accelerated and then abruptly braked. After the race, Engel expressed his surprise at Mücke's actions. The leaders were unable to execute any further manoeuvres, and the margins at the front grew progressively until the qualification race ended. Mücke led the race from start to finish. He was then found to have brake tested Engel in violation of the regulations and was given a ten-second time penalty. Engel was given the victory and took pole position for the main race. Mortara joined him on the grid's front row. Mücke's penalty demoted him to third place. Van Der Zande was fourth, Rast was fifth, and Lyons was sixth. Following closely were Bamber, O'Young, Parente, and Estre, who rounded out the top ten. Sawa, Marchy Lee, Lathouras, Inthraphuvasak, Derdaele, Jeffrey Lee, Sun Mok, Sheng, Yeng, Cuoto, and Ma were the final 21 classified finishers.

Qualifying race classification

Main race

The race began under dry and sunny weather at 12:55 local time. The air temperature was and a track temperature at . Fong withdrew from the race because his chassis was too damaged from the previous day's qualification race crash. Mortara made a quick getaway after the race's rolling start and stopped Engel's initial pass to take the lead before the Mandarin Oriental corner. Mortara lost the lead to Engel when he steered into the inside as they approached the Reservoir Kink bend. After a brisk start, his teammate van der Zande took second position. Mücke then took third from Mortara before Lisboa corner. Estre collided with Lyon's rear at the turn, and both drivers retired. After crashing into a barrier at San Francisco Bend, Bamber retired on the lap. At the end of the first lap, Engel led teammate Van der Zande, followed by, Mortara, Mücke, Parente, O'Young, Sawa, Marchy Lee and Lathouras. The first five were covered by five seconds with the rest of the field 18 seconds behind them. At the midway, Derdaele's car had a punctured tyre and retired at Lisboa curve, while Parente lost sixth place to O'Young by having a better exit out of a turn. Meanwhile, Engel extended his advantage over second-placed Van Der Zande when the course of the race altered on lap 12. Van Der Zande was slowed by traffic, allowing Mücke to challenge him for second place heading into Lisboa bend. As a result of the manoeuvre, Mücke struck Van der Zande's vehicle from behind, causing debris to land in Mücke's left rear wheel. The two collided as Mücke passed Van Der Zande on the inside as they approached Lisboa corner on the next lap. Both drivers ran wide under braking, allowing Rast and Mortara of Audi into second and third places. When the safety car was deployed to close the field down following an accident on lap 14, Engel's eight-second lead over Mortara was reduced to nothing. Inthraphuvasak crashed at Paiol corner, leaving his vehicle stranded in the middle of the course. As everyone waited for additional laps at racing speed behind the safety car, a multi-vehicle accident occurred at Moorish Hill with 2½ laps to go. The lapped Shen struck the tyre barrier, and every driver behind him collided with each other since he blocked the course. Race control decided to stop the race and not restart it, counting back the result by two laps. Engel won the first FIA GT World Cup, his second consecutive victory in Macau after winning the GT event in 2014. Mortara finished second before a 20-second time penalty was enforced by the International Sporting Code for being deemed to have jumped the start, promoting Rast and Mucke to second and third. Off the podium, Van Der Zande, O'Young, Mortara, Parente, Marchy Lee, Sawa and Lathouras, Couto, Jeffrey Lee, Sun, Shen, Ma, Yueng and Inthraphuvasak were the final finishers.

Main race classification

;Notes:

FIA GT World Cup for Manufacturers

The FIA GT World Cup for Manufacturers award was presented to the manufacturer supplying the cars with a manufacturer entry with the highest number of points after adding the points of its two best cars awarded based on the result of the Main Race.

Scoring system

To be classified and earn points, entries had to complete 90 per cent of the winning car's race distance. The pole position winner received no points.

Main Race points

; Notes : * † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance. * ¹ – Only the two best highest finishing cars of a manufacturer are able to score points. The result of the lowest finishing car is not included.

References

External links

* at the

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