BMW factory driver Raffaele Marciello will defend his FIA GT World Cup title in next month’s Macau GT3 showpiece, which features all previous winners on the entry list.

Victorious last year with Mercedes, Marciello will line up as part of a 23-car field comprising representation from six manufacturers as he seeks a third victory in the event he also conquered in 2019, the last edition held before a three-year hiatus induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marciello (Toro Racing powered by MCG) will be joined in BMW’s four-car roster by Augusto Farfus (Team KRC), who scored BMW’s only previous GT World Cup win in 2018, along with WRT pair Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor.

“I have won the last two editions of the FIA GT World Cup, but this time the situation is completely new for me as I will be driving the BMW M4 GT3 there for the first time,” said Marciello.

“I have always had good fights with BMW in the past, especially with Augusto in 2018 and also in 2017. Now I am very much looking forward to being on the other side.

“I will do everything in my power to bring the trophy back to Munich.”

Race winner Raffaele Marciello, Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3

Photo by: Mercedes AMG

Other previous winners on the entry list include Maro Engel (2015), Laurens Vanthoor (2016) and Edoardo Mortara (2017) with Mercedes, Porsche and Lamborghini respectively.

Newly-crowned GT World Challenge Europe Sprint champion Engel (GMR) is joined in the four-car Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo roster by Ralf Aron (Toro Racing), 2011 Macau Grand Prix winner Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon (both Craft-Bamboo).

WEC Hypercar points leader Vanthoor and Alessio Picariello will both be entered in Porsche 911 GT3 Rs by Absolute Racing, with newly crowned IMSA SportsCar Championship GTD Pro winner Laurin Henrich (Schumacher CLRT) and outgoing DTM champion Thomas Preining (Origine) also seeking to become Porsche’s first GT World Cup victors.

Lamborghini too has its sights set on a first victory in the event, and returns with works drivers for the first time since 2017.

Mortara and Matteo Cairoli’s Huracan GT3 Evo 2s will be run by Vincenzo Sospiri Racing under the VSR Theodore Racing banner, with DTM race winner Luca Engstler in a third Lamborghini entered by his family-run team.

Ferrari is also seeking a maiden victory in the event and has entered World Endurance Championship Hypercar drivers Antonio Fuoco and Yi Yifei, making their first GT World Cup appearances.

Fuoco, the outright Le Mans 24 Hours victor in 2023, will race a 296 GT3 run by the AF Corse team that operates his works 499P in the WEC, while Ye and fellow works driver Daniel Serra are fielded by Harmony Racing.

Audi is also present with R8 LMS GT3 Evo2s for works aces Christopher Haase (Phantom Global) and Ricardo Feller (FAW).

The FIA is confident it has an option to present to the World Motor Sport Council to improve and “simplify” the World Rally Championship’s radical points system for next year.

This year’s all-new points structure has proved a hot topic among competitors and fans thanks to its complexity and weighting that many feel has devalued the overall rally victory.

In 2024, points have been split across Saturday and Sunday, with drivers able to claim provisional points for their overall position at the end of Saturday’s leg which are then banked if they reach the end of the rally.

A sliding scale of 18-15-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 is awarded to the top 10 at the end of Saturday, but only to those crews who reach Sunday’s event finish.

In addition to this, Sundays offer up a separate points allocation [7-6-5-4-3-2-1] to the top seven fastest crews across Sunday’s stages on top of the 5-4-3-2-1 system for the top five times on the rally-ending Power Stage.

While the new system was designed to improve the action on Sunday and has been highly effective at creating excitement, drivers and teams have been highly critical of the points weighting of the system that has been derided on several occasions.

The ire seems to stem from the fact that a rally winner can quite easily leave the weekend without scoring the most points. This happened once again last weekend as Elfyn Evans, who finished second at the Central European Rally walked away with two more points than event winner Ott Tanak.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

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As previously reported the FIA has been evaluating four new proposals to make improvements to the system for next year.

Speaking at last weekend’s Central European Rally the FIA has confirmed that it has a proposal that it will present to the World Motor Sport Council which could be in place for next year.

Motorsport.com understands that the weighting of the points to ensure the rally winner is rewarded more is part of the proposal.

“We have different options, we have been talking about this all season. Every two weeks we have a sporting working groups and different options are on the table coming from the driver’s representative Scott [Martin] and from the manufacturers and from the WRC Promoter.

“Finally, we think we have an option to be presented to the next commission that more or less all agree with,” said FIA WRC category manager Marina Dunach.

“It will go to a vote at the World Motor Sport Council and maybe we will have a new points system for next year.

“After looking at the different options presented we have been testing with Excel files what would happen using the different options and thinking what is the best for the championship. We all feel more or less that this is more fair, maybe.”

FIA road sport director Andrew Wheatley added: “The key priority for the [original] rule change was to try and ensure that we had less of a discussion about Sunday, it created other discussions which is normal, and now the proposal is to try and tweak to simplify it [the points system].”

The Honda MotoGP factory team is finalising a deal with Castrol to replace Repsol from the 2025 season, Motorsport.com has learned.

Although it was an open secret for months, Repsol executives formally informed Honda of their intention not to extend their sponsorship deal – which expires at the end of this season – on the Sunday of this year’s San Marino Grand Prix.

With a brief statement sent just after the MotoGP race, the Spanish company put an end to 30 years of a relationship that began losing strength following the departure of Marc Marquez from the Japanese squad at the end of last year.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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Repsol’s financial contribution to HRC was considerably reduced once the Spanish rider’s departure to Gresini was confirmed, a circumstance that was reflected in the evident loss of the oil company’s logo on the RC213V, going from occupying a central place to moving to the underside of Joan Mir and Luca Marini’s bikes.

In fact, if the Honda manufacturer’s factory squad has continued to identify itself as the Repsol Honda Team, it has been thanks to a gesture of goodwill from the Japanese brand, which, in any case, has raced with its bikes decorated mainly in the corporate colours (red, blue and white), rather than black.

The Honda/Repsol partnership began in 1995 and has since produced a total of 15 riders’ titles, 10 constructors’ titles and 183 race victories.

With the break-up now just a few months away, Motorsport.com has learned that Honda has already agreed a deal with Castrol for the British oil company to fill the gap left by Repsol from next season onwards.

Castrol is one of the main partners of the LCR team, owned by Lucio Cecchinello, which has the fuel and lubricant company as a main sponsor on the side of the garage currently occupied by Johann Zarco.

The new partnership with the factory team does not, however, jeopardise the existing one with LCR.

While the relationship between Castrol and the Tokyo-based manufacturer’s factory team will not reach title sponsor status by 2025, the relationship could go further depending on a number of factors.

Lando Norris has conceded that “driving like a muppet” at the start of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix ultimately led to the controversial battle with Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver made a lunge up the inside of Norris into the first corner, forcing both wide and allowing Charles Leclerc through into the lead on the way to an eventual dominant victory.

While Verstappen’s move could have brought repercussions for its forceful nature, the fact it was on lap one meant the race stewards dismissed the case.

When the duo met again at the end of the race with Norris trying to take the final podium spot, the three-time champion again pushed his title rival wide and, despite both running off-track, it was the McLaren that was penalised for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

While much ire was directed towards the decision post-race, Norris held his hands up for leaving space for Verstappen to attack into the first corner, which eventually led to the late-race tussle.

“Turn one, I didn’t do the correct thing but I feel like what happened at the end of the race was more on my side. Otherwise, it was a good battle, and I enjoyed it. We just didn’t come out on top because I didn’t do a good enough job.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, battle into turn 1

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“If I defended better in turn one and wasn’t driving like a muppet, then I should have led after Turn 1, and we shouldn’t have this conversation in the first place…”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was very careful not to direct anger towards Verstappen in his comments after the race, underlining his frustration was with the stewards and the state of F1’s rules.

Norris was also full of respect for his rival, insisting: “I think Max drove very well.

“It’s very hard to do what we’re doing, and it’s hard when you’re side by side, you’re completely one side of the track to guess where your braking marker is.

“You’re going quicker than you have before because you use the battery, the tyres are older, there’s different bumps, there’s a lot of dirt, we’re battling and fighting hard… so I respect the battle that we had, it was a good one, it was enjoyable, I think it was respectful.”

Red Bull has hinted that Yuki Tsunoda could get his first test for the team after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Motorsport.com revealed over the Austin weekend that Japanese manufacturer Honda was pushing hard for Tsunoda to be given a run for Red Bull’s main squad.

Up until now, he has tested and raced only for the junior AlphaTauri/RB operations, and his drives in a Red Bull car have been limited to demo events.

But Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has suggested that the squad could give him that first opportunity at the end of the season.

Asked by Motorsport.com if there was a chance of Red Bull accepting Honda’s request for a Tsunoda test, Marko said: “We have some plans for Abu Dhabi, yes. But we have various drivers, you know. We have [Isack] Hadjar, for example, and now we have Liam [Lawson].”

Although the specifics of what Marko is referring to are not clear, the most likely scenario could be for Tsunoda to drive the Red Bull RB20 in the post-season tyre test.

This test takes place on the Tuesday after the season finale and teams are required to run two cars in it.

One car must be piloted by a driver who holds an official F1 superlicence and is for tyre testing, while the other is for young drivers who have not competed in more than two grands prix in their career.

Liam Lawson, RB F1 Team, Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

If Red Bull’s current drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez elect to skip the test, then Red Bull could slot Tsunoda in its RB20, with Lawson driving for RB.

The team could then put a young driver like Hadjar in one of its cars, with other contenders being Honda junior Ayumu Iwasa or even simulator driver Jake Dennis, who got a run in a practice session last year.

The final choice will likely be influenced by whether Red Bull feels that one of the current RB drivers should step up to the main squad next year if Perez does not perform well enough in the closing stages of this season.

Lawson has been drafted in for the final races as replacement for Daniel Ricciardo with a view to being evaluated by Red Bull. The New Zealander impressed over the Austin weekend – coming from the back of the grid thanks to an engine change penalty to finish ninth.

Speaking about Lawson’s weekend, Marko said: “Perfect! It was already when he was P3 in Q1, then they made their tactical games [to not set a competitive time in Q2].

“To go from P19 to P9, with all his lap times, and also his overtaking with [Fernando] Alonso, because [on Saturday] Alonso was complaining.

“I think he was really surprised and all of a sudden he was there. He’s a very tough racer, and he showed that he has the speed.”

Speaking to Motorsport.com last weekend, Koji Watanabe, the president of Honda’s racing arm HRC, said he was pushing hard for Tsunoda to get a Red Bull run.

“We believe he has the talent. Of course, driver decisions are ultimately up to the team, but as a partner we’ve strongly requested that Tsunoda be given the chance to drive and test in a Red Bull car,” he said.

“We want to at least give him the opportunity to showcase his ability. I’ve also spoken directly with Christian about this. He hasn’t ruled it out. Nothing has been decided yet, but I think we need to proceed properly.”

In Tennis terms the Central European Rally represented the first real match point moment for Thierry Neuville in his relentless 12-year quest to lift the World Rally Championship title.

The scene was set perfectly. An asphalt rally where being first on the road is advantage, featuring stages in Germany not a million miles from his and his Hyundai team’s home. But one thing that the WRC can guarantee in spades this season is unpredictability. 

As has often been the case for Neuville – a five-time championship runner-up – the Belgian was made to wait for glory again as fate intervened while on course for a career defining moment. Neuville only needed to outscore team-mate Ott Tanak by two points to seal rallying’s ultimate prize. But after a wild Sunday, where even world champions made errors, it was his nearest rival that triumphed to take the title fight to next month’s Japan finale.

“Obviously we came here with the hopes of winning the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles in Germany, and a lot of supporters came down to line the stages to live an incredible moment with us, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be,” said Neuville.

The phrase “it wasn’t to be” was apt for several drivers as the Central European Rally was in the words of eventual winner Tanak a “very demanding rally.” It was demanding on several levels with crews completing stages in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. Throw in multiple surface changes, unpredictable weather and increasingly dirty roads and you have the perfect recipe for an unpredictable rally.

The start was however predictable as Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier ended Thursday’s two Czech stages following the ceremonial start in Prague with a 0.9s lead over Neuville, who was sporting some cosmetic damage to his right front wheel arch from hitting a bale in the super special. The surprise was the driver in third spot as Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen, who had previously struggled to tame the i20 N on asphalt, come to the fore. A decision to go his own way on set up rather than following Neuville and Tanak helped the Norwegian, who is facing an uncertain future for 2025, come alive. 

Mikkelsen’s bright start however faded by stage five (Sumavske Hostice 1 – 16.85 km). Having dropped to sixth overall, Mikkelsen drifted wide on the leaf covered road and clattered a fence that tore the front from his i20 N resulting in retirement. Mikkelsen did rejoin the rally on Saturday only for a puncture to end any hopes of Super Sunday points.

Andreas Mikkelsen had made a stunning start to the rally before dropping back

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

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Hybrid power had been a talking point in the lead up to the event, with the WRC potentially set for another U-turn with its 2025 technical regulations by removing this element due to a recent change in the user guide issued by Compact Dynamics, the supplier of the control units. The new regulations came into force in Greece last month stating that on safety grounds hybrid units can no longer be reset and if they fail on event they must be replaced and sent to the manufacturer for a repair adding significant costs to the teams.

By stage four, nearly half of the Rally1 cars had suffered hybrid failures. Toyota’s rising star Sami Pajari, making his first Rally1 outing on asphalt driving a fourth GR Yaris was the first to lose the hybrid boost before Mikkelsen, and the M-Sport duo Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster lost the use of hybrid following a particularly hard landings from the same jump in the Strasin 1 – 26.69 km – the longest of the rally.

Although, the lack of hybrid was the least of Fourmaux’s concerns having been strangely 1m33.4s off the pace in seventh overall come the end of Friday. The frustrated Frenchman declared that he was struggling with “everything” on the car and that “something was wrong”, which required a thorough investigation.

“I’m happy to be at the end. It is easy to make a mistake and I knew that the only thing that was important was to make it to the end” Thierry Neuville, Friday

At the front though, Neuville, who has had to engage damage limitation mode starting first on the road for the last seven consecutive gravel rallies, was thriving with the road position advantage on asphalt. The Hyundai driver hauled himself into the rally lead by stage five before going on to extend his lead over Ogier to 6.4s on slippery roads that were hard to judge and made even worse by light drizzle. With Tanak a further 1.4s back in third and Toyota’s Elfyn Evans only 15.1s in arrears, the battle for victory was tight, but Neuville knew if he could maintain this display the world title would be his come Sunday.

“I’m happy to be at the end. It is easy to make a mistake and I knew that the only thing that was important was to make it to the end,” said Neuville.

But the rally gods chose not to shine on Neuville on Saturday as fog made the morning stages that straddled the Germany/Austria border wet, and like driving on ice. The conditions were responsible for several drivers making unscheduled trips to the scenery, including Neuville.

Neuville’s lead had been reduced to 0.8s after Tanak produced a stunning time to win stage nine but according to the 2019 world champion “Cyril [Abiteboul, Hyundai team boss] didn’t like our first stage time and we started to get some messages”. Abiteboul clarified that these messages were made with the manufacturers title fight against Toyota in mind, reminding Tanak of the risks he should avoid taking.   

Neuville took an advantage overnight into Saturday

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

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Tanak’s effort briefly elevated his i20 N to second ahead of Ogier before the Estonian dropped his pace too much in stage 10 (Beyond Borders, 24.433km) and fell back behind the Toyota that was only two second behind leader Neuville.

Neuville this year has rarely made an error, a loss of concentration in Sardinia, being his only real mistake. It is why he is leading the championship having scored points in every round. However, in stage 12, the Belgian made two costly mistakes. A 360 degree spin after touching the wet grass was recovered quickly but moments later he careered off the road luckily onto a large grass run-off area. In an effort to return to the road, he became briefly stuck in a ditch. More than half a minute was lost as he dropped to fourth and effectively his hopes of sealing a world title had evaporated.

“It was two spins, I mean the first one was a basic spin and the second one the pacenote was too fast,” Neuville told Motorsport.com. “It was a long corner and you don’t see the exit very well because it is uphill and when I entered the corner, it turned more than my pacenotes told me.”  

Neuville, now resigned to bringing the car home, wasn’t the only driver to be caught out. Ogier who inherited the lead survived a small moment, but admitted “it was easy to make a mistake” while M-Sport duo Fourmaux and Munster both enjoyed trips into fields, now with working hybrid units.

Fourmaux’s was the most spectacular as he skidded onto the grass and brushed the trees. However, the mysterious issue with his car came to light. M-Sport had made wholesale changes overnight but didn’t change the front differential which had developed a fault leaving that effectively reduced the Puma to a rear wheel drive only version. 

“As soon as there is dirt [on the road] it is hard to get it to go straight. It is undriveable,” said Fourmaux, whose day came to an end when he lost the rear of his Puma in stage 10 and the impact required a wheel change. Although damage to the hybrid cooling package put him out of the rally until Sunday where he produced much better speed.

The battle for the rally victory turned into a three-way fight. Tanak reduced Ogier’s advantage to 1.1s after stage 13 before Ogier reeled off two stages wins to end the day with a slender 5.2s margin, while an under the weather Evans was third, 14.0s in arrears. It was looking very good for Toyota in the manufacturers’ battle with Ogier picking up 18 provisional Saturday points and Evans 13.

Toyota was attempting to claw back ground in the manufacturer’s championship, with Ogier and Evans leading the charge

Photo by: Toyota Racing

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The WRC’s new points system is complex and divides opinion, but it has certainly ensured that Sundays are no longer sedate affairs – a conveyer belt of action and chaos is a better description as crews fight for 12 crucial Super Sunday points.

Hyundai has been the master of this new discipline while it has been a weakness for Toyota. The latter proved true as another ‘black Sunday’, as Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala calls them, unfolded.   

First Toyota lost Pajari who had been highly impressive to head into Sunday sitting in fifth position. However, the young Finn came into left hander in stage 15 (Am Hochwald, 12.17km) too fast resulting in his GR Yaris finding a ditch and being pitched into a roll. 

“I think it was a soft roll but I don’t know why it happened, in my opinion my pacenote was okay and there was nothing really surprising on that corner,” said Pajari. 

With every pass, the stage became increasingly dirty, aided by the placement of anti-cut devices or the lack thereof. Efforts to curb cutting this year had been praised by the drivers earlier in the event but conditions were evolving fast in the opposite direction for the leading runners.

“I feel angry with myself in the moment and I’m very sorry for the team” Sebastien Ogier after crashing

This would prove to be the downfall of rally leader Ogier as the eight-time world champion made costly mistakes for the third event in succession. Ogier lost the rally lead in the first pass through (Am Hochwald, 12.17km) where he misjudged the braking at a junction and ran onto the grass, handing a 1.9s advantage to Tanak. 

This gap was reduced to 1.5s before the second pass that proved even more damaging. Six hundred metres into the penultimate stage of the rally Ogier was caught out on the dirt at a fast right and clattered into the trees. Normally a master of controlling his emotions the accident provoked screams of anger as he clambered out of the car. It was the only stage where route note crews were not allowed to pass to provide up to date road evolution information to the drivers.

“I feel angry with myself in the moment and I’m very sorry for the team, I tried my best,” said Ogier. “It was really my main target to help them achieve the manufacturers’ title. I think I was doing a good job so far but unfortunately it is a third weekend in a row that has not gone my way. It is a tough time.”

Ogier’s rally came to an abrupt end with a crash on an unscouted stage

Photo by: Toyota Racing

With the shockwaves caused by Ogier’s accident, Abiteboul once again reminded Tanak of the risks at stake and his driver duly delivered a steady Power Stage time, missing out on the bonus points, to seal a 21st WRC victory and perhaps one of the toughest of his career.

“We have seen every day that so much is happening and in some stages it [drama[ is happening for many cars clearly it is very demanding rally. It is never easy but I’m happy to come out without mistakes,” said Tanak, who took the victory by seven seconds from Evans, with Neuville third.

The returning Takamoto Katsuta, benched for Rally Chile, finished fourth but impressed throughout and proved to be a life saver for Toyota after claiming the maximum 12 Super Sunday points. Despite Ogier’s late exit Toyota actually decreased Hyundai’s lead in the manufacturers’ title race to 15 ahead of the Japan finale but it could have been even closer.  

“For sure it was big big pressure before this rally and it was such a difficult moment I had last month, but I have had strong support from the team and the people around me,” said Katsuta, who finished ahead of M-Sport’s Munster, who recorded a career-best equalling fifth.

For Neuville, it wasn’t the title coronation he’d dreamt but he will take a 25-point lead over Tanak into a Japan decider, adding “It wasn’t to be this weekend. Sorry for the team for a small mistake but even world champions make mistakes.”

The WRC title battle is most certainly not over but its very much a case of championship point to Neuville. One thing that is for certain a Hyundai driver will win the championship for the first time. 

“I guess it depends how much Thierry wants it,” said Tanak. “If he is smart in Japan and does a good job then nobody has a chance, but we also have a responsibility for the manufacturers championship it is still a big job ahead of us so we can’t really focus only on drivers title.”

Tanak emerged victorious as team-mate Neuville picked up crucial championship points

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool