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Raffaele Marciello’s busy week begun on Tuesday, October 24, at the wheel of a Mercedes C63AMG DTM on the Lausitzring track: a challenging DTM test that saw the Ticino driver handle the car with finesse, testing various set-ups in both wet and dry conditions, and earn the praise of the Mercedes team. After the test Marciello rushed to the airport to catch a plane to Zhuhai, China, where the first race of the Asian Le Mans Series awaited. Marciello, invited by AMG as factory driver for the AAI Motorsport team, shared the wheel with amateur Chinese driver Yam Lu – who enthusiastically took in all of Raffaele’s expert advice – and Englishman Ollie Millroy. The weekend started off with three free sessions in which Marciello’s AMG GT3 no. 90 always finished first or second. During qualifying, Raffaele went on to score the top time and obtained the pole position, outclassing, against all odds, even a fast BMW that had the advantage of competing on a track characterised by many straight sections and few complicated turns.
Marciello then took the wheel during the first hour of the four-hour Endurance race: an harsh drive through penalty pushed him back to third, but Raffaele fought back with a series of fast laps that propelled him alone at the top. Yam Lu took the wheel for the second stint: while he couldn’t match the Ticino driver’s relentless pace, he drove with confidence and kept the car in first before passing the baton to Millroy. During the latter’s stint the breaking system begun to malfunction, and Marciello, who jumped back in the seat inheriting of an advantage of only two seconds, immediately knew that winning the race was out of the question: he focused his energy on defending the second place instead. It later turned out that the brake pads were completely consumed by the end of the third hour – the result of a compound mistake that effectively ended up jeopardising the race. Still, Marciello can be proud of bringing home yet another podium, especially after such a demanding week.
Marciello will be back at the wheel, representing Mercedes-AMG, at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau from November 16th to 19th.

On October 17 Raffaele Marciello welcomed 150 car enthusiasts at Giubiasco’s Mercedes-AMG Winteler dealership, where they could admire up close the Mercedes AMG GT3 no. 90, his partner in a successful Gran Turismo debut season. But the Winteler family had more surprises planned for its valued guests: over the course of the evening it was possible to take some of the most performing AMG series cars for a spin, including the new Coupè AMG GT, the E63AMG, the C63s AMG Coupè, and the GLA 45AMG: big engines, big emotions and smiley faces all around.
The event was organised by EMME, a company from Bioggio, who made sure every last detail was taken care of, and put up a giant screen where the guests count admire a recap video of Raffaele’s Blancpain GT Series season.
The truth, however, is that Marciello’s racing year is far from finished, and the next weeks will be particularly busy: over the next weekend he will be in Zhuhai, China, to race for Mercedes-AMG in the first stage of the Asian Le Mans Series, and on November 16-19 he will take part in the most exciting and craziest race of the year: the FIA GT World Cup in Macao. In the narrow roads of the Asian street circuit, where Marciello has already obtained a pole position and fought for the victory, the Ticino driver will represent the Affalterbach brand together with three other colleagues.
Raffaele wishes to take this opportunity to thank every single one of his sponsors and all his fans, without whose support this amazing first season couldn’t have happened, and who give him the strength and the energy to aim higher and higher, in hope of a glorious future.

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