The 2019 FIA GT World Cup kicked off in Macau earlier today (14 November) as the most prestigious GT sprint race on the planet prepares to host its fifth edition around the famous 6.2KM street circuit.

Earl Bamber made the early headlines as he headed a Porsche one-two on the timesheets, with the Stuttgart marque targeting a maiden FIA GT World Cup success at the illustrious Macau Grand Prix.

ROWE Racing team-mate Laurens Vanthoor proved the potency of the Porsche 911 GT3 R by setting the second fastest lap time, before a trio of Mercedes’ completed the top five positions.

Maro Engel, Raffaele Marciello and Edoardo Mortara were the men in charge of the quickest Mercedes AMG - GT3s, with the latter also enduring an uncharacteristic accident late on in the session.

Mortara – a six-times winner in Macau – overshot the famous Lisboa corner, making light contact with the barrier in the process.

Engel also had his own off-track moment before the German was able to recover, eventually showing his undoubted speed around the Guia circuit.

Kevin Estre and Alexandre Imperatori ensured just two marques filled the top seven positions as the Porsche duo lapped over a second slower than Bamber’s benchmark.

Audi and reigning champions BMW have some catching up to do when the action resumes tomorrow with Free Practice 2 taking place at 12:30 (local time) followed by the all-important qualifying session commences at 16:10 (local time).

You can watch LIVE streaming of every session of the FIA F3 World Cup and FIA GT World Cup here.