MACAO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- BMW's Raffaele Marciello will start Sunday's International Automobile Federation (FIA) GT World Cup in Macao from pole position after taking victory in Saturday's 12-lap qualification race at the Guia Circuit.
Starting from pole position in dry conditions, Marciello held off a strong challenge from fellow BMW driver Dries Vanthoor to lead into the Lisboa Bend on lap 1, and was never headed thereafter, managing his pace in an error-free performance to win by 0.67 seconds from Vanthoor.
"I got quite surprised by the grip into Turn 1, it was quite low today, and had a bit of a moment [on lap 1] and Dries was able to overtake me, but luckily for me, he went a bit too deep into Lisboa, and I was able to overtake him back," said Marciello, who is bidding to win his third GT World Cup title, having also emerged victorious in 2019 and 2023.
"It's difficult to overtake around this track, so I knew when I was in front that it was just a matter of bringing the car back in P1 at the end of the race.
"It was not easy, because the grip is quite low, but when you are in front, you can control the pace a bit."
Behind the top two, Antonio Fuoco rounded out the top three in his Ferrari, with fellow Ferrari racer Ye Yifei the highest-ranked Chinese finisher in 13th place. ■
