Al Zubair, Klingmann claim podium finishes in Zandvoort
They guided the Al Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO to third overall in race one on Saturday and repeated the feat at the Dutch circuit on Sunday afternoon to remain in contention for the Teams' and Drivers' Championships. Both drivers showcased their potential in both attacking and defensive driving during the course of the two absorbing races.
Al Zubair said: 'Very happy with the result. To come to the first time ever to Zandvoort and to finish P3 in a new car and a new team in the Sprint Championship is something we should be very happy with. On Saturday, we were close to second place but we lost position at the end of race one and finished third.
'Today, we were a solid P3 after a hard fight with the Sainteloc Audi. That made it quite fun. The most important thing now is that we are collecting solid points and we can hopefully continue on this path and secure top spot in the championship.'
Victory in the first of the weekend's races went to the Saintéloc Racing Audi with the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari edging out the Al Manar Racing crew for second place.
Klingmann then qualified the Al Manar Racing BMW in third place for the second of the one-hour Sprint races on Sunday with a best lap of 1min 34.508sec. Pole position went to Chris Lulham in the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari.
Thierry Vermeulen of Emil Frey Racing passed the chequered flag to secure the win in race two. The Tresor Attempto Racing Audi finished second and Al Zubair brought the Al Manar Racing BMW home in third place just behind Leonardo Moncini in the Audi.
Free practice got proceedings underway on Friday morning and the Al-Manar Racing duo got their weekend off to the perfect start by topping the session. They ran the Team WRT BMW for 50 laps and clocked the fastest tour of 1min 34.232sec on lap 17. The Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 was their closest rival with a best run of 1min 34.550sec.
Pre-qualifying followed in the afternoon and the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari topped the times with a best tour of 1min 34.334sec. Al Manar Racing's best run was a 1min 35.095sec lap.
Sainteloc Racing's Gilles Magnus topped the times with a lap of 1min 33.033sec in Q1 and the Al Manar Racing BMW was down in fifth place with a best run of 1min 33.930sec. That meant the crew started the opening race from the rear of the Gold Cup grid.
Action in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup resumes at Monza in Italy on May 30-June 1.
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