This Macau Grand Prix from November 17-20 reveals several fast cars that could switch your marque loyalty, or tempt you on to the track as a team owner or driver. The following five cars are packed with the latest racing technology, and marques’ track backup.
Rowe Racing could bring out the best of BMW on the 6.2km Guia Circuit. Nick Catsburg of the Netherlands debuts the stunning BMW M6 GT3 in the Macau Grand Prix’s 18-lap FIA GT World Cup, at 12.55pm on November 20. The 586-horsepower racer has a 4.4-litre V8 engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology linked to a six-speed sequential racing transmission, and won July’s 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. It looks powerful, yet weighs less than 1,300kg, and shows how the marque’s BMW Motorsports unit “placed great importance on [the car’s] efficiency and ease of maintenance, as well as reliability, which is particularly crucial at the 24-hour classics”, BMW says.
The €379,000 racer’s cabin has a colour display with an optional logger function; an illuminated control panel; and fire-extinguishing system and motorsport wiring harness with various free sockets. Catsburg’s Aussie teammate Ricky Capo will drive a BMW Z4 GT3.
Look out too for a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the same race. One is driven by FIA GT World Cup champion Maro Engel of Germany; the other by Renger van der Zande of the Netherlands, and both represent the Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy Macau. The beautiful Mercedes-AMG GT3 has an AMG 6.3-litre V8 engine and its six-speed sequential racing gearbox is mounted across the rear axle to improve weight distribution,” Mercedes-Benz says, “as is the case in the standard GT”.
The Mercedes-AMG GT3 reportedly costs about €372,000 and seems built for gentlemen drivers as well as professionals, especially with a paddle shift that the carmaker says “allows drivers of all skill levels to build up confidence in the car very quickly”.