2015 FIA GT World Cup
| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Date | 22 November 2015 | |
| Official name | 62nd Suncity Group Macau Grand Prix | |
| Location | Guia Circuit, Macau | |
| Course | Temporary street circuit 6.120 km (3.803 mi) | |
| Distance | Qualifying Race 12 laps, 61.200 km (38.028 mi) Main Race 14 laps, 85.684 km (53.242 mi) | |
| Qualifying Race[1] | ||
| Pole[2] | ||
| Driver |  Stefan Mücke |
Craft-Bamboo Racing |
| Time | 2:18.032 | |
| Fastest Lap | ||
| Driver | Stefan Mücke |
Craft-Bamboo Racing |
| Time | 2:18.930 (on lap 10) | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Maro Engel | Mercedes AMG Driving Academy |
| Second |  Edoardo Mortara | Audi Sport Team Phoenix |
| Third | Stefan Mücke | Craft-Bamboo Racing |
| Main Race[3] | ||
| Pole | ||
| Driver | Maro Engel |
Mercedes AMG Driving Academy |
| Fastest Lap | ||
| Driver | Stefan Mücke |
Craft-Bamboo Racing |
| Time | 2:19.736 (on lap 11) | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Maro Engel | Mercedes AMG Driving Academy |
| Second | René Rast | Audi Sport Team WRT |
| Third | Stefan Mücke | Craft-Bamboo Racing |
The 2015 FIA GT World Cup was the race's inaugural edition and the eighth time Grand Touring (GT) sports car machinery participated in Macau'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 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 won the main race from pole position 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
[edit]To enter the FIA GT World Cup in Macau, drivers had to compete in a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)-regulated championship based on GT3 regulations.[4] On 11 September 2015, Audi, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, McLaren and Porsche were announced as the five manufacturers accepted to enter the event that was open to any car model meeting GT3 rules.[5] Manufacturers could enter up to three drivers through privateer teams,[5] and the teams representing manufacturers could field both gold and platinum ranked drivers;[6] bronze and silver-rated entrants were considered on a case-by-case basis by the FIA GT World Cup Committee.[4] 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 Maro Engel, two-time Macau Grand Prix victor Edoardo Mortara, and 24 Hours of Le Mans co-winner Earl Bamber.[7] René Rast, a World Endurance Championship 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's Blancpain Sprint Series round.[8]
Background
[edit]The 2015 FIA GT World Cup was the event's maiden running and the eighth time Grand Touring (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.[9] 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.[10][11] These proposals were dormant for a while until an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Doha saw the idea resurface and eventually confirmed by the sport's governing body on 20 March 2015.[10] It was the first collaboration between Ratel and the FIA since the FIA GT1 World Championship disbanded.[12] The FIA GT World Cup was granted its status after the World Touring Car Championship stopped travelling to Macau,[12] and it replaced the Baku World Challenge which was discontinued that year when Formula One announced it would hold a race in the city from 2016.[13] The Automobile General Association Macao-China, the race's promoter, asked the SRO to assist in forming a grid.[13]
Practice and qualifying
[edit]
There was one 30-minute practice session each on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning before Sunday's race.[14] Renger van der Zande set the quickest lap for the Mercedes AMG Driving Academy SLS GT3 in the first practise session at 2:20.796, 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 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, Keita Sawa, Rast, and Richard Lyons.[15] Engel led for the majority of the second practice session until Mücke passed him with a time of 2:20.082, 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, and Rast.[16]
Friday afternoon's half-hour qualifying session determined the starting order for the qualification race through each driver's fastest lap times.[4][14] 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.[17][18] Engel took responsibility for the collision and apologised to his team.[17] 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.[18][19] With less than 12 minutes remaining. Audi devised a strategy to let Mortara to drive in clear air for a pole position effort. But Cuoto experienced oversteer and severely damaged his car in an incident at Mandarin curve, which ricocheted between the barriers.[18][19] 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 2:18.032.[18] Mücke was joined on the grid's front row by Mortara.[17] 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.[18] 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. John Shen and Jacky Yeung completed the 22 qualifiers.[18]
Qualifying classification
[edit]
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