Porsche earned third during a dramatic FIA GT World Cup in Macau, with Schumacher CLRT’s Laurin Heinrich putting in a superb showing on Sunday to claim a podium finish. Meanwhile, seven x seven Racing took the Super Taikyu Series title after a fantastic victory at Fuji Speedway.

Six Porsche cars tackled the Guia Circuit across the weekend, with five Porsche 911 GT3 R in the FIA GT World Cup joined by a sole Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport in the SRO GT Cup finale.

FIA GT World Cup Tempo by Absolute Racing duo Laurens Vanthoor and Alessio Picariello topped Free Practice 1 and 2 respectively, and it was the former Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver who was quickest in qualifying, earning third in a competitive field.

Ayhancan Güven showed strong pace on his Macau debut to claim sixth, narrowly ahead of his Schumacher CLRT teammate Heinrich. Vanthoor was unfortunate to miss out on Qualifying 2 in 11th, while current Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver Dorian Boccolacci originally progressed to the top-10 shoot-out, but a lap deletion for overpower meant he would line up 14th for Phantom Global Racing.

The quintet was looking to move forwards during Saturday’s 12-lap Qualification Race, which would form the grid for the main event. A solid start for Picariello saw him threaten the driver in front for second, but the nature of Lap 1 at Macau meant he also had to keep an eye on those behind, ultimately remaining third. The Belgian ran nose to tail in the leading pack for almost the entire race, finishing where he started.

Güven continued to impress by holding position, although teammate Heinrich would lose a place, taking eighth. On his first appearance at Macau in GT machinery, Boccolacci put in a superb performance, making up five places on the narrow Guia Circuit to clinch ninth, while Vanthoor maintained his position in 11th.

At the start of Sunday’s FIA GT World Cup, Picariello was unfortunate to be spun at the first turn after going side-by-side with a rival, ending his promising Macau weekend. Güven and Boccolacci were then involved in an incident later in Lap 1 at Lisboa, meeting the end of their respective races at Lisboa.

Following this drama, Heinrich found himself in third in the stunning gold #22 machine after a brilliant launch off the line. The German driver then spent the remaining 15 laps directly behind a rival in the battle for second. However, with the Porsche’s strength in the narrow, twisty section of the 6.12-kilometre Guia Circuit rather than on the straights, Heinrich was unable to manufacture a clear overtaking opportunity, eventually securing an excellent third at the chequered flag for a well-deserved podium. Meanwhile, Vanthoor also kept out of trouble, working his way up to ninth.

Laurin Heinrich, Schumacher CLRT: “I’m delighted to secure a podium on just my second visit to Macau! We struggled a bit at the beginning of the weekend, but we improved as the event progressed, which is a huge credit to the amazing Schumacher CLRT crew. Today we got a great start as Ayhancan and I worked well together heading into Turn 3. Unfortunately, I got hit from behind and there was nothing I could do to avoid contact. After this we settled into a good rhythm, showing strong performance to bring home a trophy. Thanks to the team and Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific for making this possible and I hope to return in 2026.”

Alessio Picariello, Absolute Racing: “We started the weekend positively on Thursday, topping FP2 before qualifying in third. Saturday’s race was great and we battled hard to ensure we got a podium finish! Today was a disappointing end to a strong weekend as we had the slightest touch with a rival, but with the momentum off the start I couldn’t do anything about it, ending our race prematurely. The team’s hard work deserved another trip to the rostrum, which is what I was aiming for, but that’s just the way racing goes sometimes.”

Ayhancan Güven, Schumacher CLRT: “Overall it was a pretty positive weekend as we showed solid pace throughout. We got an amazing start today and moved up to third, but suffered contact from behind, leading to a race ending incident. It’s a shame as I could’ve had a first podium here on my debut, but it wasn’t to be this year. However, I really enjoyed the challenge of the Guia Circuit and I will hopefully be back in the future!”

Laurens Vanthoor, Absolute Racing: “We showed great pace in FP1, going quickest before I made a small mistake which damaged the car. The team did an amazing job to repair it and make it safe to drive, but due to the extent of the damage, we never found the same performance. We were consistently on the back foot, but still managed to finish today’s event in the top-10, crossing the line in ninth.”

Dorian Boccolacci, Phantom Global Racing: “It was my first time competing in Macau for 10 years and my debut in the FIA GT World Cup. We had some technical issues on Friday which prevented us from making the most our performance, but bounced back in the Qualification Race, finishing ninth. We had new tyres for today’s event and the Porsche 911 GT3 R felt good on the way to the grid, but unfortunately, we suffered a race ending incident on the opening lap which was unavoidable in such a tight battling field. We learned a lot and will take this experience forward into future events to maximise our results.”

SRO GT Cup

The already-crowned Am Champion Moritz Berrenberg made his Macau debut in the final event of the inaugural SRO GT Cup campaign, the Greater Bay Area GT Cup.

Competing in the #83 Maxmore W&S Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, Berrenberg continued in the same vein of form that has seen him secure class victory in four of the six races already hosted this season. The German driver adapted quickly to the narrow circuit, taking fourth in qualifying, and Am pole position.

In the race, Berrenberg was holding fourth and looked set both to challenge the leading cars while also pushing for class victory. However, the driver in second place found the barriers with six laps to go, bouncing out into the track and leaving Berrenberg with nowhere to go, bringing an end to his positive race.

Super Taikyu Series

Over in Japan, seven x seven Racing secured the Super Taikyu Series title with a fourth victory of the season at Fuji Speedway.

Bankcy started the race in the #666 Porsche 911 GT3 R, putting the car in a competitive position before Kiyoto Fujinami and Taichi Watarai drove strong stints to claim a comfortable victory. The win was the team’s fourth of the season in what has proven to be a superb debut campaign, taking the title despite missing two races.

Porsche Team EBI rounded off their solid 2025 campaign with a season-best finish of second, thanks to great performances from Shota Kitazono, Rintaro Kubo, Ryoma Henzan and Naoya Yamano. The result added to two previous podium finishes this year as the squad earned fifth in the class standings.

In the ST-1 category, D’station Racing’s #47 car finished second, which was enough for Kenji Hama, Tatsuya Hoshino, Tetsuya Tanaka and Taiga Kabaki to be confirmed as class champions. The team secured victories at Fuji Speedway, Sportsland Sugo and Okayama in a consistently strong year.

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “It was a solid weekend for us in Macau as we took podiums across both races in the FIA GT World Cup. Congratulations to Laurin and Schumacher CLRT for their excellent result today, coming through from eighth to cross the line third. It was also great to see former Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver Alessio stand on the podium during Saturday’s event for Absolute Racing. It’s still not what we want as every year when we come to Macau we are aiming for the big victory. However, it’s an improvement from previous visits and we will come back stronger in 2026. “Over in Japan, we send our congratulations to seven x seven Racing on winning the Super Taikyu Series title. They’ve had a great season and raced superbly today to clinch a fourth win of the year. We’re also delighted to see Porsche Team EBI and D’station Racing on their class podiums, completing a brilliant all round weekend for Porsche.”