DTM BMW racers Augusto Farfus and Marco Wittmann piloted a pair of Z4 GT3s to fifth and seventh place finishes in the Macau GT Cup race, a twelve-lap sprint on the Guia circuit that runs through the streets of Macau. Farfus and Wittmann had qualified eighth and tenth, respectively. They drove for privateer team AAI Rstrada.
The race, run as a support event on the Macau GP weekend, serves as an opportunity for many GT3 teams to go head-to-head before the end of the year. Mercedes racer Maro Engel won the race.
Both Farfus and DTM champion Wittmann had raced in Macau before; Farfus had run there in his days in the World Touring Car Championship and Wittmann had competed on the street circuit in Formula 3.
Farfus said, “I did not take any major risks at the start, but was still able to make up two places. Our race speed was very good today, unlike yesterday’s qualifying. Given the circumstances and the little experience our team has compared to the opposition, fifth place feels like a victory. Importantly, we were able to gather a lot of data for future outings. It was great to return to Macau after four years.”
BMW has not announced any specific “future outings” in Macau.
Speaking of the Guia circuit, Farfus says “It is by far the best street circuit in the world. It is extremely fast, quite long and offers a unique combination of corners. You have the ‘Melco’ hairpin, which is an extremely slow first-gear-corner, and then you have the superfast ‘Mandarin’ corner – both of them on the same circuit! I would compare Macau with the Nürburgring-Nordschleife – everybody who goes there immediately falls in love with the circuit.”.—Brian S. Morgan
