
Al Zubair gears up with Al Manar Racing by Team WRT
MUSCAT: The trio of Al Manar Racing by Team WRT — Al Faisal al Zubair, Jens Klingmann and Ben Tuck — are all geared up to take on the challenge in Italy for this weekend's second round of the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS at the legendary Monza circuit.
The trio, Al Zubair from Oman, Klingmann from Germany and Tuck from Britain, finished on the podium at the opening round at France's Paul Ricard in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO and are hoping for another top-class performance in this weekend's three-hour race that features a third mandatory pit stop. Klingmann was the overall winner of the race last year and he and Al Zubair have already arrived in Italy fresh from their double podium success in the recent Sprint races at Zandvoort in the Netherlands recently.
The Monza race weekend has attracted a massive 59-car field across the various classes with the Al Manar Racing by Team WRT trio lining up against nine rivals in the Gold Cup category.
The trio, Al Zubair from Oman, Klingmann from Germany and Tuck from Britain, finished on the podium at the opening round
The opening round was won by the CSA Racing McLaren crew of Arthur Rougier, James Kell and Simon Gachet and they will be aiming to defend their series lead against the likes of the second-placed Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin, the Garage 59, Optimum Motorsport and Team RJN McLarens, the Tresor Attempto Racing Audi, the Paul Motorsport Lamborghini, Nordique Racing's Mercedes-AMG and Herberth Motorsport's Porsche.
Ahead of the race, talented Omani racer Al Zubair said: 'This will be the second round of the Endurance Championship, which I am really looking forward to. I really enjoy Monza. Unfortunately, we didn't finish the race last year because of a collision. We are hoping to have a much better result this time.
'Luckily, I think the BMW is more suited to Monza than the Mercedes. That should be of benefit to us. We are currently second in the championship, overall Sprint and Endurance. So, hopefully, we can have a strong weekend, score solid points and keep up the fight for the championship.'
Al Zubair have already arrived in Italy fresh from their double podium success in the recent Sprint races at Zandvoort in the Netherlands recently
The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS shares the circuit this weekend with the Lamborghini Super Trofeo and McLaren Trophy Europe.
Test sessions will be available on Friday but the first official two-hour practice session is scheduled for Saturday (May 31) from 10.10hrs. Pre-qualifying will then take place from 15.30hrs. An hour of crucial qualifying will get underway on Sunday (June 1) morning from 09.50hrs and the three-hour race fires into life at 15.00hrs.
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Observer
15 hours ago
- Observer
Al Zubair leads Merc 2 of N group in Jordan Rally
Omani rally driver Abdullah al Zubair topped the N group in Merc 2 in Jordan International rally which was a strong and more than impressive result, achieving fifth place in the overall rally standings in his Subaru Impreza, followed directly by his teammate Zakariya al Amri. The rally, which consisted of 12 stages, between mountainous and near the Dead Sea, witnessed success in terms of organisation and participation, as 22 cars participated in various categories. Champion Abdullah al Rawahi topped the morning stages on Friday in Til Hilali, Karamah, and Baptism, but he lost the title against Nasser Al Attiyah meanwhile Abdullah al Zubair and his navigator Taha Soomar continued to dominate the Merc 2 group despite the attempts of the rest of the competitors to catch him, especially his direct competitor Zakariya al Amri and his navigator Mohammed al Mazroui and other local competitors from Jordan and Lebanon. Nevertheless, Al Amri still leads the category by 9 points over Al Zubair, who aspires to win the title this year. Abdullah al Zubair secured the lead in his group from the day one and took it easy on himself on the second day, slowing down after securing a significant lead over the competitor chasing him. Al Amri, meanwhile, had a great race but encountered some problems with his car on the day one, which he was able to recover on the following day and gain good times. The second day of the rally, which took place in Panorama, Suwayma and Wadi Nar, in the Merc 2 group witnessed competition between colleagues Abdullah al Zubair and Zakariya al Amri to seize the category title, but Al Zubair presented a balanced and exceptional performance and implemented a clear strategy to maintain the difference between him and the rest, he was able to decide the matter in advance during the first day& 39s competition, and his strong and fast time in the group gave him the lead in the Jordan International Rally category, and he secured 30 points in the category in the Middle East Rally Championship after concluding his fourth round in Jordan, towards competing for the lead. The winner of the first place in the in (N) category, Abdullah al Zubair, with his navigator Taha Soomar, said that the rally was special in terms of the competition, which was fierce in many stages, but thank God I outperformed many of the competitors who had stronger cars and in a larger category than my category, and we succeeded in achieving the goal, which was to win first place in the category to reduce the lead in the group with my colleague Zakariya al Amri, and I am happy with this, I also hope that private sector companies will support the competitors who achieve international successes in the name of the Sultanate, especially since these sports are very expensive. I thank everyone who stood behind us in this rally and championship, the supporters, Taha Soomar's my assistants, and the technical team for the great job, it is worth mentioning that many of those witnessed and drivers at the rally asked Al Zubair to participate next year with an R5 category car, as he was one of the fastest drivers in the rally. For his part, competitor Zakariya al Amri said that the rally was difficult and arduous and he faced some problems in some stages, but he was able to overcome them and and recover and presented an ideal race despite the fierce competition, rough stages and hot weather. He added, 'Thank God, we are still at the top of the Merc 2 group and we will try to maintain this lead in the upcoming rallies and win the category. I thank my navigator Mohammed al Mazroui for all the support, as well as the audience who came to support us in this rally in Jordan from Oman.'


Observer
a day ago
- Observer
2nd Place for Al Rawahi on day 6 of Jordan Rally
DEAD SEA, Jordan: A puncture on the first special stage of the final morning proved to be mightily expensive for the Oman Rally Team's Abdullah al Rawahi and it ultimately cost him the chance to threaten the 19-time FIA Middle East champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah for victory at the Jordan Rally. Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud pushed as hard as they could when conditions permitted but they were always running the risk of collecting a flat tyre on the day's six demanding gravel special stages in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas of the Hashemite Kingdom. Another time delay with a flat tyre on the 10th stage eventually decided the outcome in Al Attiyah's favour and Al Rawahi had no alternative but to bring his Autotek Škoda Fabia R5 to the finish in second overall. Nevertheless, his day's result also netted a second Jordan National Championship event win of the weekend. Al Rawahi said: 'It was a long two days for us. The first day was quite good, especially with the pace and we were very close to Nasser. Unfortunately, today we had some punctures and we lost some time. Overall, we are very happy with our performance. It has been the closest we have been to him in the battle. 'We don't really have enough seat time in the car. After this rally I have three months off not really driving my car. My car is also an older generation and there is experience difference between me and Nasser. That is why it is good that he is in the championship. He helps us to push and get closer to him. It is still good. We wanted to win but we are still happy.' Abdullah al Rawahi on day two in Jordan A first pass through the iconic Panorama stage of 17.12km opened proceedings on the final morning. Outside temperatures were already up to 31°C at the start of the stage with a peak of 37°C in the afternoon. Surface cleaning was evident on the opener but Al Attiyah laid down the gauntlet with a time of 11min 38.0sec. Al Rawahi dropped 32.3 seconds with tyre damage on a front-right wheel and that enabled Al Attiyah to extend his lead to 45.8 seconds. The first pass through Suwayma was next in the itinerary. Al Attiyah stopped the clocks in 5min 47.0sec and was able to extend his advantage over Al Rawahi to 52.5 seconds with another stage win. Wadi Nar was the last stage of the loop. Al Attiyah made it a clean sweep of morning stage wins and headed for the midday service and regroup with an advantage over Al Rawahi of 53.1 seconds. He beat the Omani by just six-tenths of a second in the special. After the opening loop of three stages, Al Rawahi said: 'The first stage this morning we got a puncture and lost over 30 seconds. When you try to keep up and push this can happen sometimes. We were able to continue but the gap is bigger. It's not impossible but it was closer before. Now we are trying to maintain our speed. We have three more stages to go.' A second delay occurred in the afternoon with another puncture but the Omani held on to take second place and maintain his push for a podium finish in this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship. Abdullah al Rawahi during the race The Oman Rally Team has backing from Al Manar Investments, the Oman Automobile Association, WMS, Zamakan, OQ, Strike, Size, the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture of Oman and National Finance. The FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues in Lebanon on September 5th-7th. 2025 Jordan Rally – positions after SS12 (unofficial): 1. Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 2hr 13min 47.7sec 2. Abdullah al Rawahi (OMA)/Ata Al Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 2hr 16min 42.5sec 3. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari (QAT)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Citroën C3 Rally 2 2hr 19min 01.3sec 4. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA)/Firas Elias (LBN) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 2hr 33min 25.3sec 5. Abdullah al Zubair (OMA)/Taha al Zadjali (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14 2hr 37min 26.0sec 6. Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2 2hr 38min 58.3sec 7. Shaikh Bader Al Fayez (JOR)/Vili Oslaj (SLO) Škoda Fabia Rally 2 2hr 40min 34.9sec 8. Zakariya al Aamri (OMA)/Mohammed al Mazroui (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14 2hr 41min 53.0sec 9. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (NAT) 2hr 42min 10.2sec 10. Rashid Al Muhannadi (QAT)/Gary McElhinney (IRL) Peugeot 208 Rally 4 2hr 46min 12.6sec, etc


Muscat Daily
2 days ago
- Muscat Daily
Oman's Al Rawahi finishes second in Jordan Rally, compatriot Al Zubair wins MERC2
Dead Sea, Jordan – Qatar's Nasser Saleh al Attiyah won all but one of the 12 gravel special stages on his way to a comfortable 17th victory in the Jordan Rally on Saturday. Abdullah al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata al Hmoud maintained the pressure on the Qatari throughout day one but a time-consuming puncture delayed the Omani on Saturday's opening Panorama stage and a second issue on stage 10 proved too much for the 2023 regional champion. He finished second overall. Al Rawahi said: 'It was a long two days for us. The first day was quite good, especially with the pace and we were very close to Nasser. Unfortunately, today we had some punctures and we lost some time. Overall, we are very happy with our performance. It has been the closest we have been to him in the battle. 'We don't really have enough seat time in the car. After this rally I have three months off not really driving my car. My car is also an older generation and there is experience difference between me and Nasser. That is why it is good that he is in the championship. He helps us to push and get closer to him. It is still good. We wanted to win but we are still happy.' Al Rawahi also earned victory in the second round of the Jordan National Championship with Shaker Jweihan claiming second place ahead of Sheikh Bader al Fayez. Oman had plenty more to celebrate as Abdullah al Zubair led the MERC2 field at Jordan Rally from start-to-finish with co-driver Taha al Tadjali to strengthen his push for the overall title. Fellow countryman Zakariya al Aamri had arrived in Jordan with a 15-point lead over Al Zubair but his rival's success and fifth place overall has thrown the battle wide open with two rallies remaining. Al Aamri finished second in the category and eighth overall. Al Zubair said: 'We are happy with this result, It is a very difficult race. It is also very hot. It was our first time here. The first day we were flat out and won every stage. Today, we took it slow. We had a good lead and the strategy paid off.' For Al Attiyah, the Jordan win took him to a record 90th career MERC rally win, as he closes in on an unprecedented 20th regional title since 2003. The new partnership with his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera has a 100% winning record with the duo now taking victories at the opening four rounds of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Jordan. 'I am so happy to win again here in Jordan for the 17th time. This means a lot to me,' said al Attiyah. 'This year we have won every rally so far. It feels like a good year, leading the Middle East Championship and leading the W2RC. For this rally, I will give it 10 out of 10. Today, we controlled the pace and tried to make a gap in case we had a puncture.' Qatar's Abdulaziz al Kuwari and his Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore tried different set-ups with their Citroën C3 but struggled to match the pace of the leading duo on this occasion. They did enough to round off the podium places.