Factory Ferrari driver Antonio Fuoco secured victory in the qualifying race for the FIA GT World Cup in Macau.
Starting from pole, the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours winner delivered a controlled lights-to-flag performance in the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 over 12 laps and was never seriously threatened.
At the start, Fuoco immediately broke clear of the #83 Harmony Ferrari of Yifei Ye and opened up a 3.6-second gap within two laps.
It puts Fuoco back in the same position he occupied last year, when the main race ended in controversy after a clash between he and Raffaele Marciello cost both drivers a shot at victory, with Maro Engel having the last laugh.
Ye managed to bring the gap down to 2.543s by the flag, but never came close enough to even consider a move.
Instead, he had to keep an eye on his mirrors, with Alessio Picariello’s Porsche 911 GT3 R applying pressure and leaving no margin for error.
Picariello, in turn, was under attack from Marciello in the opening laps before the BMW dropped back.
Marciello’s hopes of a third Macau victory seemed to gain early momentum when he briefly challenged for second place heading into Lisboa Bend, only to run out of room on the outside line and being relegated back to fourth.
Behind the top four, Audi’s Joel Eriksson and Porsche’s Ayhancan Guven enjoyed largely uneventful races to finish fifth and sixth respectively.
In seventh, Luca Engstler in the best Lamborghini had to fend off sustained pressure from Laurin Heinrich's Porsche for the entire race but held on to his position on a circuit that is notoriously difficult for overtaking.
The top 10 was rounded out by Dorian Boccolacci (Porsche), who stayed within reach of the Engstler-Heinrich battle, and Deng Yi, who put on a fantastic performance on his event debut in a Ferrari.
Laurens Vanthoor - who had a lowly grid spot after his Porsche was rebuilt following a practice shunt - and Adderly Fong came home 11th and 12th, both being delayed in a first-lap melee at Lisboa that hampered three favourites.
The famous 90-degree right-hander was once again the focal point of the race’s only major incident. Edoardo Mortara, who had to start from 10th after getting his qualifying times deleted due to exceeding maximum power, outbraked himself while attempting to recover lost ground.
Chaos followed behind with several cars tangling, Benjamin Goethe’s McLaren and Sheldon van der Linde’s BMW taking to the escape road, while Christopher Haase’s Audi hit the barriers. All three continued, but they were left scrapping for the final positions.
The main race starts on Sunday at 12.35 local time and is set for a distance of 16 laps.
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