Porsche clinched a double top-five finish in the FIA GT World Cup at the Macau Grand Prix with Alessio Picariello and Laurens Vanthoor, while Leo Ye secured Silver Cup victory for the second year in a row.

Returning to the challenging Guia Circuit with five Porsche 911 GT3 R entries, Vanthoor was the fastest Porsche in a tough qualifying in seventh, one position ahead of his Absolute Racing teammate Picariello. In a twice stopped session, Origine Motorsport’s Thomas Preining struggled to find clear air, ending in 14th, while Laurin Heinrich took 17th for Schumacher CLRT. Leo Ye was unable to get a clean lap in the #556 Origine Motorsport car, eventually taking 21st.

The quintet found it difficult to make overtakes in the 12-lap Qualification Race, with Picariello and Vanthoor swapping positions, while Ye moved up to 20th and second in the Silver Cup.

Drivers were met with heavy rain on Sunday and the race started under the Safety Car. Once the green flag was waved, Picariello was immediately putting pressure on the driver ahead. In a chaotic race, incidents for cars in front meant the Belgian was fighting for a podium position, but was unable to make a move despite consistently being within a second of his rival. Eventually, Picariello had to settle for fourth, with Vanthoor close behind in fifth.

Heinrich enjoyed a solid race on his Macau debut to move up to 13th, with Preining coming home in 15th. Ye was embroiled in a race-long battle for Silver Cup victory, making the move in the closing laps to claim class victory for the second consecutive year.

In the Greater Bay Area GT Cup (GT4), there was disappointment for 2024 Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti, after hitting the wall in qualifying while sitting on provisional pole. Unfortunately, the damage to the Z.SPEED Motorsport car ended his weekend. Yang Xiaowei lined up seventh on the grid for 610 Racing, while Leona Chin Lywoei started 20th in the second Z.SPEED Motorsport car.

Yang got off to an excellent start in the #66 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS, making up two positions on the run to Lisboa on Lap 1. The Chinese driver then kept it safe and out of the barriers, moving up to fourth when a driver ahead crashed out. He would cross the line in that position, although two post-race penalties for drivers ahead promoted him to second. Chin performed solidly on her first Macau appearance, improving to 15th and putting huge pressure on the driver ahead in the closing stages.

Alessio Picariello, Absolute Racing: “It’s a good achievement to take P4 in the FIA GT World Cup, but also frustrating as we narrowly missed out on a podium. I was putting pressure on the car in front but it’s so difficult to overtake here. I’m happy to have been a part of this event and a huge thanks to Porsche and Absolute Racing for their support. I hope to be back here again and aim for an even better result.”

Laurens Vanthoor, Absolute Racing: “Finishing fifth is not what we came for, we were looking for more especially with the wet weather today, we aimed to come back through the field. It’s a difficult event, we weren’t quite able to maximise everything. I was right behind Alessio the entire race, but we couldn’t make it to the podium. I think having both cars in the top-five is the maximum we could do, so a big thanks to the Absolute Racing team for their hard work.”

Laurin Heinrich, Schumacher CLRT: “I’m happy to have completed my first race weekend in Macau. It started well in Free Practice, but as a rookie it’s difficult when each session is in different conditions. Unfortunately I made a mistake in qualifying and damaged the car, meaning we could only take P17. It’s tough to start from so far back, but we had a good race today in the wet with some overtakes and strong pace. A good ending to a bittersweet event and I hope we can come back in the future with all the experience and learnings from this weekend.”

Thomas Preining, Origine Motorsport: “It’s difficult to sum it up, we had a lot more potential than we were able to show. We were hoping to fight for the podium but sadly we weren’t able to. I still had a good weekend with Origine Motorsport, it was great to work with them and I enjoyed the amazing Guia Circuit.”

Leo Ye, Origine Motorsport: “I’m delighted to bring a trophy home and defend my Silver Cup title! In the wet main race we had a lot of speed, and were on a similar pace to the cars in the top-10. It’s always a challenge to overtake here, but I’m thankful to the team for providing me with a competitive car today. I hope in the future that we can have more pace and luck in qualifying and start closer to the front.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “It’s always a pleasure to be in Macau and I’m happy to have seen our Porsche entries recover well in the wet conditions today. Qualifying was tough and it was frustrating not to be involved in the battle for pole position, but we were able to move forward today in the wet to secure two top-five finishes and the Silver Cup title, which I think was the absolute maximum we could do. Despite the incredible effort of our teams and drivers, it’s unfortunate that we were not able to be competitive in dry conditions, including the all-important qualifying session because of circumstances out of control relating to the Balance of Performance we were given.

“Having experienced similar issues last year, we were unfortunately surprised that the hard work and significant technical and financial investments both Porsche and our customers have made did not lead to a more competitive race. We will now undertake a review in the coming weeks, before deciding what the future holds for us with regards to participation next year.

“In the Greater Bay Area GT Cup (GT4), it was a shame to have to withdraw Alessandro Ghiretti’s car following his incident in qualifying, especially after a very promising start and provisional pole from the Porsche Junior. That being said, we are very happy for Yang Xiaowei’s P4 for 610 Racing and would like to congratulate Leona Chin in Z.SPEED Motorsport’s sister car for having a solid Macau debut. A big thanks to all our teams and drivers for representing us this weekend.”