Max Hart and Pepe Oriola will both return to the streets of Macau this weekend as they join the grid for the FIA TCR World Tour finale on the Circuito da Guia.
Irishman Hart is no stranger to the challenging street circuit, having raced in the TCR China event in 2023 and the TCR Asia event in 2024, the latter of which was also part of the TCR World Tour event last year.
Hart won on his début in Macau, taking victory in race two of the TCR China event on the circuit in 2023 as part of a 26-car field in what ended up being his only win in a full season of TCR China racing with Hyundai.
This year, Hart has focussed on racing in TCR Europe, where he ended the year eighth overall, having claimed a victory in Germany and a further two podium finishes.
Oriola is also returning to Macau this weekend, although the last time the Spaniard raced at the notoriously challenging circuit was in 2018 as part of the FIA World Touring Car Cup.
The 31-year-old last raced full-time in 2022, whilst his last TCR race was in the TCR Europe season finale of 2023 in Barcelona.
Since then, Oriola has focussed on his role as Team Manager for GOAT Racing, a role he will continue in whilst racing this weekend as part of the three-car squad alongside Esteban Guerrieri and Ignacio Montenegro.
Last year, GOAT Racing scored a memorable 1-2-3 result in race two in Macau, when a strategic tyre call from Oriola in a wet-to-dry race enabled Dušan Borković to claim the win.
“To be back in Macau after almost three years without competing in an international championship is such a challenge, but also special as my last race in WTCR was there,” said Oriola.
“It will be an extremely challenging weekend as I will still be on my duty as team manager, and my main focus will be in the team manager side.”