The second day of action at the 72nd Macau Grand Prix delivered everything from sudden downpours to rapid late-session laps, setting the stage for an intense weekend ahead.
While the Macau Guia Race – Kumho FIA TCR World Tour qualifying sessions ran earlier in the day, much of Friday’s attention fell on the junior single-seaters, GT machinery and the delayed motorcycle qualifying, which was cancelled due to the rain.
[See more: What happened on day 1 of the 2025 Macau Grand Prix]
Here’s all you need to know about what happened on the second day of the 72nd Macau Grand Prix before the final races take place this weekend.
Motorcycle qualifying cancelled due to a wet track
The day began with the track still soaked from early showers, forcing officials to cancel the scheduled 7:45 am motorcycle qualifying session on safety grounds.
The 57th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix field will instead qualify tomorrow morning from 7:00 to 7:30 am, just two hours before their race at 9:10 am. It adds a dramatic twist to a class already filled with heavy hitters such as defending champion Davey Todd and five-time winner Peter Hickman.
FIA F4 World Cup: Wheldon shines on a drying track
As the circuit slowly dried, Sebastian Wheldon was the standout performer in free practice 2 for the FIA F4 World Cup. He was the only driver to break the 1m25s barrier, setting a 2m24.323s on his penultimate lap and finishing eight-tenths clear of the field.
The session itself was messy. A heavy crash for Gino Trappa at Lisboa triggered the first red flag. Another stoppage followed when Emily Cotty hit the wall at Turn 15. Several drivers – including British F4 champion Fionn McLaughlin – were unable to set proper laps due to technical difficulties and recurring interruptions.
[See more: Drivers to watch at the FIA FR and F4 World Cups at the Macau Grand Prix]
Behind Wheldon, Kiyoshi Nakamura and Emanuele Olivieri completed the top three. Rintaro Sato, Tiago Rodrigues and Rayan Caretti also showed promising pace before late yellow flags halted any final improvements.
Qualifying later in the day brought even more drama. Multiple incidents – including crashes from Tiago Rodrigues, Gino Trappa and Rintaro Sato – cut the session short as the clock ran out with cars still being recovered. Even with the early ending, Wheldon held onto pole, followed by Nakamura in second and Olivieri in third. Rodrigues, despite his crash, remained fifth fastest.
FIA FR World Cup: Slater stays sharp amid stoppages
The Formula Regional field had its own turbulent day, starting with a red flag for Kanato Le. More stoppages followed after Oscar Wurz and debutant Zhenrui Chi crashed at Fisherman’s Bend. Because it was only practice, the clock continued to run, leaving drivers with very limited time to put together clean laps.
Freddie Slater made the most of it and topped the timesheets by 0.22 seconds, ahead of Mari Boya and Enzo Deligny. Local favourite Charles Leong finished 15th in FP2 with more chances ahead.
[See more: New SJM Theodore Racing exhibition celebrates Macao’s racing legacy]
Qualifying 2 later turned into a pressure-filled sprint. Early on, Jose Garfias hit the barriers in the mountain section. Red flags returned for Tymek Kucharczyk and later Charlie Wurz.
Through all the disruptions, Slater and Deligny traded quick sectors, but it was Théophile Naël who delivered the lap of the session to take provisional pole for tomorrow’s qualification race. Slater starts second, just 0.267 seconds behind, with Evan Giltaire in third. Charles Leong will line up in 19th place.
FIA GT World Cup: Ferrari sweeps the front row
FIA GT World Cup running produced one of the clearest signals of the day, that Ferrari is firmly in the fight.
In Qualifying 1, Joel Eriksson set the pace in an Audi, ahead of Antonio Fuoco’s Ferrari and BMW’s Raffaele Marciello – three manufacturers in the top three.
But Qualifying 2 belonged entirely to Ferrari. Fuoco delivered the lap of the day to secure pole position, with Ye Yifei joining him on the front row in another 296 GT3. “Mr Macao” Edoardo Mortara, hunting a fifth GT victory, put his Lamborghini third. Marciello will start sixth in tomorrow’s 12-lap qualification race at 14:35.
Greater Bay Area GT Cup (GT4): Han leads as O’Young keeps up the pressure
Qualifying for the Greater Bay Area GT Cup (GT4) brought more red flags and some nervous moments. Darryl O’Young had a scare after a lock-up at Lisboa in the closing minutes, but escaped without damage.
[See more: Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young to bow out at the Macau Grand Prix]
After three red flags, the session ended with Han Lichao on top, O’Young in second and Lu Wenlong in third. The nine-lap GT4 race takes place Sunday at 8 am.
