Macau Grand Prix: Yvan Muller, Andy Priaulx and Raffaelle Marciello top podiums at Guia circuit

It was Yvan Muller who started off the final day of the Macau Grand Prix with another win – and another 25 points in his attempt to take over the WTRC lead.

The 50-year-old Frenchman made it two wins from two over eight laps this weekend with the major difference between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning was that he did not start on pole for his second win.

Instead, from fifth on the grid he got off to a great start, moving past title rival Esteban Guerrieri, safe in the knowledge that his Lynk & Co Cyan Racing teammates – his nephew Yann Erhlacherhis in pole and Thed Bjork behind him were at the front of the grid – would let him pass.

“I had a fantastic start, which is crucial here,” Muller said. “I knew if I wanted to win I had to pass Guerrieri and Ceccon. And then Yann and Thed helped me big time.

“We knew of course straight away, because they were starting one and two with Thed, that if that was the case at the first corner Yann would let Thed past and if I was joining them, I would pass both of them.

“It happened and thanks very much to Thed and Yann because that victory could have been theirs.”

The third and final race, over 11 laps, was won by Andy Priaulx for a clean sweep for Lynk & Co Cyan Racing. Priaulx got past fellow Briton Rob Huff’s Volkswagen at the start and never looked back, despite Huff’s best efforts to get past him for a 10th Macau win.

Huff was gracious in defeat: “It was a good race and to be beaten by Andy, I don’t mind really. It’s always enjoyable to race with him.”

WRT Audi’s Jean-Karl Vernay brushed aside earlier engine troubles to finish third.

Further back, Bjork let Muller in to make sure the Frenchman finished higher than his title rivals, closing the gap on both leader Norbert Michelsiz and Esteban Guerrieri in second. The World Touring Car Cup resumes for its final three-race meet at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit next month.

It was a first podium of the season for three-time world champion Priaulx on the track where he secured the 2005 and 2007 world championships.

It was a new face atop the podium in the GT World Cup, which was won by Italy’s Raffaelle Marciello.

The win for the Mercedes man also ensured the German manufacturers sealed the championship, who thanked him for the “perfect lap” in qualifying that got him to the front of the grid.

Marciello stayed there but not without drama in the final lap when Earl Bamber clipped him. The Italian brushed that off after the race.

“Macau is really hard to overtake so he had to try something a bit crazy to try to pass me.”

Instead he was happy to concentrate on his own performance.

“"I've always been close. I was on pole in Formula 3 and last year in the GT. Macau is always Macau, it’s really special. You need to make it all perfect and finally I did it,” the Italian said.

The twin Porsches of Bamber and Rowe teammate Laurens Vanthoor took it in turns to try to oust Marciello, and got one last shot after a safety car on lap eight, with Vanthoor finishing second after Bamber’s bump in the final lap.

“We decided a Porsche had to win, doesn’t matter which one,” Vanthoor said after the race.

“I guess we’ll just have to come back next year and try again,” Bamber added.

Hong Kong’s Adderly Fong was stuck in the pits with mechanical issues but there was better luck for local drivers in the Greater Bay Area GT Cup.

Macua’s Kevin Tse and Hong Kong’s Philip Kadoorie started in first and second, and that is where the Team TRC Mercedes-AMG teammates finished in the morning’s other race.