Ferrari’s strong form in qualifying carried straight into today’s 12-lap qualification race, with Antonio Fuoco taking a controlled victory and securing pole position for Sunday’s Macau GT Cup – FIA GT World Cup. Ye Yifei followed him home to make it another Ferrari one-two, repeating yesterday’s front-row lockout.
The opening lap delivered the usual Macao chaos. Christopher Haase clipped the barriers but managed to wriggle his Audi free at Lisboa and carry on. Moments later, Edoardo Mortara — “Mr Macao” and a four-time GT winner — dived up the Lisboa escape road, dropping him to the back of the pack.
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Up front, Fuoco got away cleanly and wasted no time stretching his lead. By the end of Lap 2 he was already 3.6 seconds clear of Ye, setting the tone for a race that quickly settled into a tactical fight behind the red cars.
Alessio Picariello held third with well-judged defence. First, he kept Raffaele Marciello behind him — forcing the two-time winner to back out of several attempts — and later he even took a look at Ye for second. But Ye stayed composed, managing the gap and never giving the Porsche a real opening.
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The order at the front never changed as the laps ran down. Fuoco controlled the pace, Ye remained safely in second, and Picariello absorbed pressure all the way to the flag. Marciello crossed the line in fourth, unable to force his way through.
Tomorrow’s 16-lap Macau GT Cup will start with the same trio leading the field, which is Fuoco, Ye and Picariello — a familiar sight after Ferrari’s near-perfect weekend so far.
