Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT secure fifth place in Gold Cup class at Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa
After qualifying their Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO down in ninth place for the flagship event in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS calendar third round, the quartet quickly made their way into the top five and held fourth place briefly on a few occasions on the demanding Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
In front of a record crowd of over 128,000 people who witnessed the weekend's action, the Al-Manar Racing crew completed 546 laps but were just two short of the triumphant Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin and the second-placed Garage 59 McLaren that lost out on a potential victory with a tyre issue in the final hour.
The CSA Racing McLaren finished third and the Wright Motorsport Porsche was fourth on the same lap as the Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW. The result keeps the team firmly in contention for the Drivers' and Teams' Championships. They now hold second in the Team's series and third in the Drivers' Championship.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair said: 'The race was not the greatest for us in terms of the result. But, the most important thing was that we did the best we could with the power they gave us with the BMW.
'We saw here that no BMW had the pace to fight for the win this year because of BOP (Balance of Performance). We got an extra 15 kilogrammes (weight penalty) after qualifying. I think that was unjust. I am happy that we finished the race and it is important to gain points for the championship, especially after six hours, 12 and 24. It's tough though after the success of winning last year.
'It wasn't easy. We drove well with no penalties and our averages were consistent. We had a bit of contact in the night but that was due to another driver. Luckily, the car was fine and we finished the race. It wasn't what we aimed for but you cannot win them all. We still have half the season remaining so we have plenty of time.'
Klingmann took the wheel for the first session and started the race from ninth in the Gold Cup category. After three laps, the German had climbed to seventh with the Herberth Motorsport Porsche leading the way in the hands of Joel Sturm into the second hour after 24 laps.
Tim Heinemann then took over the leading Porsche and Tuck replaced Klingmann in the Al-Manar Racing BMW but the team slipped back to ninth in the changeover.
The crew managed to climb to fifth through the 4hr 30min hour mark but slipped back to seventh through 6hr 30min. During the night stint, after 10hr 30min, they had moved back up to fourth and then slipped back to fifth shortly after daybreak. They retained fifth through mid-morning
With six hours remaining, Klingmann was again at the wheel and the Al-Manar Racing car was in fifth with the Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin leading the way. Klingmann climbed to fourth with 5hr 40min on the clock but Verhagen took over for the next stint and the team was back in fifth place with four hours left on the clock. The Garage 59 McLaren then snatched the lead.
Tuck was give driving duties for the final session and the Briton safely brought the BMW to the finish in fifth place in the Gold Cup section.
Thursday morning's free practice session was the Garage 59 McLaren card the quickest lap of 2min 17.422sec to get the better of the Herberth Motorsport Porsche and the Team RJN McLaren. A dozen Gold Cup crews took part in the session and Al-Manar Racing's Verhagen topped the times in the BMW with a lap of 2min 19.042sec.
Team RJN's Ben Dörr topped the times in Q1 with a run of 2min 25.102sec, as Al-Zubair slotted into fourth behind Paul Motorsport and Garage 59. The Garage 59 McLaren topped the Q2 times in the hands of Frederik Schandorff and Verhagen was third quickest behind the Tresor Attempto Racing Audi.
The Garage 59 machine again topped the standings in Q3 in the hands of Dean Macdonald and Ben Tuck was down in fifth place in the Al-Manar Racing BMW. Louis Prette was again on top for the Garage 59 crew in Q4 but Klingmann was down in 11th position in the Al-Manar Racing BMW.
With all the times combined, pole position went to the Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin from the two Porsches of Herberth Motorsport and Wright Motorsports. Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT qualified in ninth position.
The Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW returns to action at Misano for the next round of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup on July 18th-20th.
TEAMS – latest Gold Cup standings
1. Verstappen.com Racing 91pts
2. Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT 69pts
3. CSA Racing 66pts
4. Garage 59 33pts
5. Optimum Motorsport 30pts
6. Tresor Attempto Racing 29pts
6. Paul Motorsport 29pts
8. Team RJN 26pts, etc
DRIVERS – latest Gold Cup standings
1. Lulham/Vermeulen/King 91pts
2. Rougier/Gachet/Kell 66pts
3. Al-Zubair/Klingmann/Tuck 65pts
4. Pla 33pts
5. Prett/Smalley/Macdonald 31pts, etc
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