[3][4] It was held at the 22-turn 6.120 km (3.803 mi) Guia Circuit in the streets of the Chinese special administrative region of Macau on 17 November after three days of practice and qualifying,[5][6][7] and was co-organised by the SRO Motorsports Group.

[11] Drivers had to have competed in an FIA-recognised GT3 championship race within the preceding two seasons or have considerable experience in Grand Touring (GT) cars to enter the event.

Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze-rated drivers were permitted to compete, but the FIA GT World Cup Committee might prohibit a competitor's entry if it deemed them to be too inexperienced.

[9][13] The FIA and the Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee revealed the entry list on 25 October, which included six GT3 manufacturers (Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche) and 23 drivers,[N 1][3] an increase from four from the previous year.

[14] There were 15 platinum-graded drivers and five-gold rated racers,[15] and all five preceding FIA GT World Cup winners, Maro Engel, Augusto Farfus, Raffaele Marciello, Edoardo Mortara and Laurens Vanthoor, partook in the event.

[19][22] Practice was stopped when Van Der Linde sustained left-hand side damage against the wall at the fast Mandarin Bend corner.

[20][21][22] Friday afternoon's half-hour qualifying session determined the qualification race's starting order with each driver's fastest lap times.

[25] Most teams decided to divide qualifying into two-segments, enabling them to switch to a new set of slick tyres for a second run.

[24][26] Marciello secured his fourth consecutive FIA GT World Cup pole position with a lap time of 2:16.509 on a new set of tyres.

[25][29] Engel was briefly fastest until he fell to third after a time that would have been quick enough to take pole position had to be abandoned due to a red flag.

[32] 17th-placed Heinrich lost control of his car at the start of qualifying and damaged its front-left against the wall at the right-hand Lisboa turn.

[9] The BMW M4 GT3 was imposed a 40 millibar reduction in turbocharger boost across all power levels to reduce its performance for the remainder of the event.

[45] Laurens Vanthoor sent Haase into the trackside barrier into turn one when the race began and Farfus battled Van Der Linde for fifth.

[47][49] Picariello was the highest-finishing Porsche driver in seventh, ahead of his fellow Belgian and teammate Laurens Vanthoor in eighth.

[7][52] Marciello maintained the race lead from Dries Vanthoor, Fuoco and Engel,[55] with drivers making attempts at effecting an overtake in multiple sections of the circuit.

[55] On lap nine, as the BMW continued to be faster on the straights,[60] Engel made minor contact with the rear of Dries Vanthoor's car and sent him into the guardrail barrier at Faraway Hill turn in the circuit's mountain section.

[53][56][59] Dries Vanthoor thus retired in the pit lane because of a broken right-rear toe link caused by the collision,[48][58][59] moving Engel to third.

[58][59][60] At the conclusion of lap 14,[54] Fuoco passed Marciello on the inside for the lead at Reservoir Bend turn in an near identical manoevure of his overtake on Dries Vanthoor.

[7][60] This contact sent both drivers sliding down the escape road and ended their chances to win the race,[52][7] allowing Engel to move into the lead.

[61] Fuoco dropped to ninth while Marciello made further contact with the barrier at Teddy Yip corner and retired in the pit lane.

[52][53] Van Der Linde was almost four seconds behind Farfus and completed the podium finishers in third, ahead of a close group comprising Picariello, Laurens Vanthoor, Haase, Mortara, Feller, Fuoco and Juncadella.