Audi to enter Edoardo Mortara for FIA GT World Cup at 70th Macau Grand Prix

Edoardo Mortara, the man dubbed ‘Mr Macau’ by virtue of his seven wins on the 6.2km Guia Circuit, heads back to the iconic street track in November as Audi seeks a fifth win in the Macau GT Cup. The race, which first ran in 2008, is once again designated the FIA GT World Cup following a three-year hiatus.

“We are delighted to have secured Mr. Macau, Edo Mortara, for the world’s most important GT3 sprint race,” said Alexander Blackie, Manager of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “After Edo’s incredible fightback last year to finish second in the GT Cup, we have some unfinished business to address this year in Macau!”

“We are very pleased about the commitment of our Audi Sport Partner in Asia,” said Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “Together with our Asian squad, Edoardo Mortara has a real chance of winning this highlight GT3 race of global attention. We are very much looking forward to the 70th addition of the famous Macau Grand Prix the FIA World Cup 2023.”

Mortara’s ‘Mr Macau’ moniker is richly-deserved. He made his debut on Macau’s unforgiving street circuit in 2007, in the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix. In 2008, he finished second in the race, before taking two consecutive Grand Prix victories in 2009 and 2010, becoming the first driver ever to do so.

In 2011, Mortara earned Audi its first Macau GT Cup victory, going on to take two further wins in succession for the marque, and taking his unbroken winning streak to five.

After the race was awarded FIA GT World Cup status in 2015, Mortara took a fourth victory in 2017, to set the record for the most Macau GT Cup wins by a single driver. His official Macau race win tally currently stands at seven, courtesy of his Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup support race win a decade ago.

As well as honouring Mortara with his coveted nickname, Macau has celebrated his remarkable achievements with a permanent exhibit in the official Macau Grand Prix Museum. There, a lifelike wax figure of the driver, created by Madame Tussauds, is displayed alongside his racing-winning Audi.

Macau’s Guia street circuit has remained fundamentally unchanged since the first Grand Prix in 1954. Although today it meets all the latest FIA safety standards, its unforgiving ancient walls and distinctive yellow and black Armco barriers continue to punish the smallest error harshly. It is for this reason, combined with the track’s combination of fast straights, twisty sectors, elevations and its famous hairpin, that victory on the Guia Circuit is such a highly respected achievement, and why Mortara’s ‘Mr Macau’ title is so thoroughly deserved.