Picariello, in turn, was under attack from Marciello in the opening laps before the BMW dropped back.
Marciello’s hopes of a third Macau victory seemed to gain early momentum when he briefly challenged for second place heading into Lisboa Bend, only to run out of room on the outside line and being relegated back to fourth.
Behind the top four, Audi’s Joel Eriksson and Porsche’s Ayhancan Guven enjoyed largely uneventful races to finish fifth and sixth respectively.
In seventh, Luca Engstler in the best Lamborghini had to fend off sustained pressure from Laurin Heinrich for the entire race but held on to his position on a circuit that is notoriously difficult for overtaking.
The top ten was rounded out by Dorian Boccolacci, who stayed within reach of the Engstler-Heinrich battle, and Deng Yi, who put on a fantastic performance on his debut in the Ferrari.
Laurens Vanthoor and Adderly Fong came home 11th and 12th, both being delayed in a first-lap melee at Lisboa that took out three favorites.
The famous 90-degree right-hander was once again the focal point of the race’s only major incident. Edoardo Mortara, who had to start from tenth after getting his qualifying times disallowed due to exceeding maximum power, outbraked himself while attempting to recover lost ground.
Chaos followed behind with several cars tangling, sending Christopher Haase’s Audi into the tyre barrier and forcing Benjamin Goethe’s McLaren and Sheldon van der Linde’s BMW into the escape road. All three continued, but they were left scrapping for the final positions.
The main race starts on Sunday at 12.35 local time and is set for a distance of 16 laps.
To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.
