MACAU GRAND PRIX, A GREAT SHOW DESPITE THE RAIN. WINS FOR UGOCHUKWU IN FORMULA REGIONAL AND ENGEL IN GT3

The 71st Macau Grand Prix, which featured heavy rain and changeable weather saw wins in the two blue riband categories of a packed race programme for Ugo Ugochukwu in the FIA Formula Regional World Cup and Maro Engel in the FIA GT3 World Cup, with Pirelli as sole tyre supplier for both series.

The FIA Formula Regional race was suspended for a long time after just one lap because of an accident involving several cars, after which there were numerous appearances from the Safety Car with the leading positions remaining unchanged. In fact, the order at the finish line was the same as the grid order when it came to the podium positions: behind Ugochukwu came Oliver Goethe and Noel Leon, in a repeat of the result of Saturday’s qualifying race. 

Heavy and incessant rain right from the early hours of the morning led to various cancellations and changes to the programme. The FIA GT3 World Cup race was held on a wet track, with cars shod with Pirelli Cinturato, but visibility was good, allowing the drivers to fight in what was a spectacular race. In the end, Engel in a Mercedes GT3 came out on top, after Antonio Fuoco in the Ferrari 296 GT3 crashed, with two laps remaining, when he was hit by the BMW M4 GT3 of Raffaele Marciello, who also went off. Augusto Farfus and Sheldon Van der Linde were second and third respectively, both driving BMW M4 GT3s. 

Marciello was victorious in Saturday’s Qualifying Race which secured him the special Pole Position Award presented by Pirelli and featuring an effigy of a dragon, in tribute to the Chinese sign of the zodiac for the current year.

The dragon also featured on the dry weather P Zero DHF, used by the GT3 cars. And one of the P Zero DHF Macau edition tyres fitted to a rim from Marciello’s car was later donated by Pirelli to the Macau GP Museum, where it will be on display alongside other motor racing artefacts. The tyre was accepted on behalf of the museum by Ao Leong, Macau’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture and Luis Gomes, coordinator of the Macau Grand Prix Organising Committee.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Matteo Braga, Circuit activity manager: “This past weekend, the changeable weather and the torrential rain made what is already a tricky track, by virtue of its twisty city streets and varying grip levels, even more of a challenge. We are pleased with the way our products responded, confirming their versatility and reliability in all conditions. The P Zero DHF and the Cinturato WHA in particular, with which many of the drivers taking part in the Macau GT3 World Cup are familiar as they are used all the major GT championships, delivered consistent performance thanks to their wide working range. The range used in Formula Regional, a category making its debut at Macau, no stranger to FIA single-seater categories, also performed very well. As always, the Macau GP, of which we are a well-established partner, proved to be extremely interesting from several perspectives, with its importance extending far beyond Asia.”

Apart from Formula Regional, which used the P Zero DMB and the Cinturato WSB and the GT3, Pirelli also supplied the same tyres used in this latter category to the 27 GT4 cars entered in the Greater Bay Area GT Cup and to over 50 Toyotas taking part in their own trophy.