Jeff Seabrook

Munich. BMW M Motorsport has secured a top-notch addition in anticipation of the extensive racing programme in the coming years. Raffaele Marciello (SUI) will compete as a BMW M works driver starting from the 2024 season. The 28-year-old has celebrated impressive successes in recent years and is now taking the next step in his career with BMW M Motorsport. His racing schedule will be announced at a later date.

In recent years, Raffaele Marciello, under the banner of Mercedes-AMG, has proved himself to be one of the best GT drivers globally. In 2023 and 2022, he clinched the title in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe, secured victory in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) and the driver's title in the ADAC GT Masters in 2022. In both 2023 and 2019, he triumphed at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau (CHN), and in 2018, he became the champion in the Blancpain GT Series. Before entering GT racing, Marciello achieved success in open-wheel racing. He was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, won the FIA European Formula 3 Championship in 2013, claimed victories and podium finishes in the GP2 Series, and conducted Formula 1 tests for Ferrari and Sauber.

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “I am very pleased to welcome Raffaele Marciello to the BMW M Motorsport family. When you have the opportunity to sign a top-caliber driver like him, you must seize it. He has consistently demonstrated his prowess for years, particularly in GT cars. But there is much more to him. Before his GT career, Raffaele Marciello showcased his class multiple times in open-wheel racing. In our view, he brings the perfect all-around package with his versatility to further strengthen our already high-quality roster of works drivers. The multitude of racing programmes we will undertake in the coming years with our cars provides diverse deployment opportunities. We will announce the specific details of Raffaele Marciello's racing plans in the coming weeks and months.”

Raffaele Marciello: “I am very excited to be a BMW M works driver starting from the upcoming season. This is a significant step in my career. Having been a racing driver for many years, I am immensely proud to be able to compete for BMW M Motorsport in the future.”

Macau. The motorsport world turned its attention to Macau last weekend. As part of the 70th Macau Grand Prix, the 55th edition of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix took place, and the race on the spectacular Guia Circuit street course ended with a top-four lockout for the BMW Racers. Leading the pack was Peter Hickman (GBR), who raced his BMW M 1000 RR of FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team to his fourth Macau victory. Davey Todd (GBR / Burrows Engineering / RK Racing) and David Datzer (GER / MTP Racing by ZERO UP Penz 13) secured second and third places on the podium. Hickman’s teammate Josh Brookes (GBR) completed the success for the BMW M 1000 RR in his Macau debut, finishing fourth.

“Congratulations to our successful BMW riders who once again dominated in Macau. A top-four lockout for our BMW M 1000 RR is a sensational result,” said Uwe Geyer, Head of BMW Motorrad Customer Racing. “Peter Hickman lived up to his role as one of the top favourites. Davey Todd, whom we can welcome back to the BMW racing family, also proved that he belongs among the best road racers in the world. David Datzer, in his second Macau appearance, reached the podium for the second time – an impressive performance. And Josh Brookes, as a debutant in this extremely challenging race, achieved an excellent result with fourth place. Thanks to all BMW racers who represented BMW’s colours so successfully in Macau!”

Hickman competed in Macau for the first time since 2019, and it was the first appearance on the Guia Circuit for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team, in the home town of team principal Faye Ho. Hickman quickly demonstrated that he still excelled on the unique course, setting the fastest times in the practices and securing pole position.

Hickman maintained the lead at the start of the race before it was red-flagged on the first lap. At the restart, Hickman stayed in the lead, with Todd initially putting pressure on him. However, as the race progressed, Hickman pulled away, finishing with a 28.969-second lead over Todd after twelve laps.

“We’ve had a fantastic result”, Hickman said. “We’re at Faye’s home event and it’s her proper home track, it’s her city and it’s just fantastic to be first in every single session and winning the race, so I couldn’t really ask for more than that – I’m super happy. The boys have worked absolutely mega, the BMW M 1000 RR has been superb to be honest. The track was a bit bumpier than it used to be, which makes it hard to ride. But the FHO Racing team have got the bike pretty much bang on and I felt really comfortable. Davey obviously gave us a bit of a push to start with, but we could really keep the pace and he couldn’t, so we managed to break away and disappeared up the road and just managed it from there.”

Todd experienced a rollercoaster of emotions on race day. After qualifying second, a technical issue prevented him from participating in the first start, forcing him back to the pit. However, he and the team didn’t give up, worked on the repair, and when the race restarted after the red flag, Todd was back in the mix, ultimately securing second place on the podium.

“I wasn’t expecting a day like that at all. It was just one of those so unlucky things at the first start”, Todd said. “The guys pushed the bike back to the garage and I felt as if my world had come apart walking back down pit lane. But the team kept going and worked flat out just in case the race was stopped and we could jump in the re-run. And we got back out there. I managed to take it up with Pete for four laps, trying to sit in behind him. I knew that the tyres would come into play and tried to save them as much as I can. I just did not have the tyre to compete at the end. Hat’s off to Pete, he had a great race and thanks to the team for an awesome job.”

Datzer was also overjoyed after securing his second podium finish in his second Macau appearance. The restart did not go as planned for him, starting from fourth, he initially dropped several positions and was ninth. However, he fought his way back, eventually passing Brookes to claim third place and maintained the podium position until the checkered flag.

“It’s amazing, just amazing”, Datzer enthused on the podium. “After my bad start I thought, oh no, the fast guys are gone. However, I’m blessed to have a great bike which has been prepared by a great team. I worked my way through and to be on the podium again at Macao is a great way to end the event.”

Paul Jordan (GBR / ZERO UP Racing Team by Penz 13) and Sam West (GBR / moto-hub.co.uk) finished seventh and tenth, respectively, also making it into the top ten.

Macau. Augusto Farfus (BRA) has added another podium finish to his impressive record at the Macau (CHN) street race. Driving the #11 BMW M4 GT3 for ROWE Racing, Farfus finished third in Sunday’s main race. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) gave a strong performance in the #32 BMW M4 GT3 of the BMW M Team WRT during his debut in Macau but was unlucky in the main race with a tyre failure that cost him a shot at the podium. In the qualification race on Saturday, he finished in fifth place, just behind Farfus .

Farfus, who won in Macau in 2018 driving the BMW M6 GT3 and had previously won twice in the FIA WTCC, showed great fighting spirit throughout the weekend. Starting the qualification race in eighth position, he improved his standing with strong overtaking manoeuvres on the extremely narrow city circuit to finish fourth. He lost that advantageous position in a tough duel right at the start of the main race. However, he once again worked his way forward and, due to problems faced by two drivers ahead of him, he was able to celebrate a third-place finish on the podium.

One of the drivers ahead of him was van der Linde, who was on course for the podium but suffered a tyre failure on the rear left, which set him back significantly. Nevertheless, he demonstrated his great potential with a fifth place in qualifying and in the qualification race, and he quickly got to grips with the new and highly demanding track. For the BMW M4 GT3, it was also the first appearance in Macau, which it completed successfully with a podium finish.