BMW M Motorsport will return to the streets of Macau for the FIA GT World Cup race on November 18th-19th and is hoping to replicate past success with a pair of M4 GT3s entered for Augusto Farfus and Sheldon van der Linde. Farfus will drive for ROWE Racing, while van der Linde will drive for BMW M Team WRT.
Macau is located on the south coast of China, and the race is held on the streets, which are narrow and unforgiving. BMW has raced there many times over the years, and last won there in 2018 when Augusto Farfus put a BMW Team Schnitzer M6 GT3 on the pole and led every lap of the race to take the victory. “Macau is a magical place, and a very emotional one for me personally,” said Farfus. “The event is definitely one of the highlights of the season and I feel honored to be able to represent BMW M Motorsport again. I have enjoyed a lot of success there in the past, particularly my victory in 2018. I am confident that we will have a very strong package with my friends at ROWE Racing and the BMW M4 GT3.“
Augusto Farfus won in an M6 GT3 at Macau in 2018.
This year is the first time the Macau race has been held in four years, as the race was canceled for 2020-2022 due to the COVID pandemic. Both the WRT and ROWE teams have experience at the track. BMW M Team WRT won the race in 2016 and has several other podium finishes, and ROWE Racing competed with the M6 GT3 there in 2016, 2017 and 2019, and finished second and third in 2019.
Head of BMW M Motorsport Andreas Roos is confident that BMW will be a contender on the 6.12-kilometer circuit. “It is fantastic to finally return to Macau this year, for the first time since the pandemic,” he said. “I actually was there myself for the Formula 3 race, a long time ago, and am really looking forward to being involved in the FIA GT World Cup for the first time. This will also be the first outing for the BMW M4 GT3 at the ‘Guia Circuit’. However, over the past two years the car has shown that it has what it takes to win on any kind of track. ROWE Racing and BMW M Team WRT are among the best GT teams in the world, and both have a lot of experience in Macau.”
You can find out more information on the race on the FIA website, which includes a link to the live stream of the race. —David Haueter
[Photos courtesy BMW]