Al Manar Racing's Al Zubair and Klingmann aim for sprint success at Misano in Italy
The pair are tackling the Gold Cup category in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO and currently hold second in both the Drivers' and Teams' Championships following a fifth place and a victory in the two one-hour races at Brands Hatch in England and a pair of third-place finishes at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.
Emil Frey Racing leads the way in the Teams' Championship on 60 points with Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT 18.5 points behind in second place and three clear of a tying Saintéloc Racing and Tresor Attempto Racing.
Oman-based Al-Zubair said: 'I am really looking forward to going to Misano. It will be my first time racing there. My first time driving there was in March during testing and it was a track that I enjoyed. But I want to see what the racing is like there. We are currently second in the championship, so the most important thing is to collect points and make sure that we are completing the races.
'The target, as always, will be to go for the wins. The competition in Gold Cup has been extremely strong this year but I hope that we can give our rivals a good fight and also push for the overall positions as well.'
This weekend's race meeting at Misano on the Italian Adriatic coast has attracted a record 44 entries across the various classes. It is the 11th consecutive year that the circuit has hosted the Sprint Series.
Misano is officially known as Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in memory of the local MotoGP rider, who lost his life in a crash in 2011. The 4.226km circuit is located close to the town of Misano Adriatico in the Rimini province and also hosts the MotoGP World Championship.
Competition for Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT in Misano comes from the Saintéloc Racing Audi R8, the Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3, Emil Frey Racing's Ferrari 296 GT3 and Tresor Attempto Racing's Audi R8 LMS GT3.
Free practice takes place on the Italian circuit from 13.40hrs on Friday (July 18th) and precedes an hour of pre-qualifying from 19.20hrs.
The first of the two qualifying sessions gets underway at noon on Saturday (July 19th) with Q2 following at 12.15hrs. The opening one-hour gets the green light at 20.15hrs.
Sunday's action sees the second qualifying sessions scheduled for 10.25hrs and 10.40hrs, respectively, with race two getting started at 14.45hrs.
TEAMS – latest Gold Cup standings
1. Emil Frey Racing 60pts
2. Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT 41.5pts
3. Saintéloc Racing 38.5pts
4. Tresor Attempto Racing 38.5pts
5. Garage 59 25.5pts
6. CSA Racing 9pts
DRIVERS – latest Gold Cup standings
1. Chris Lulham/Thierry Vermeulen 60pts
2. Al-Faisal Al-Zubair/Jens Klingmann 41.5pts
3. Gilles Magnus/Paul Evrard 38.5pts
4. Sebastian Øgaard/Leonardo Moncini 38.5pts
5. Louis Prette/Adam Smalley 25.5pts
6. Arthur Rougier/James Kell 9pts
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Al Manar Racing's Al Zubair and Klingmann aim to bounce back in France
MUSCAT Al Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al Faisal al Zubair and Jens Klingmann will be hoping to get their 2025 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Series challenge back on track at the Magny-Cours circuit in France this weekend. The BMW M4 GT3 EVO duo suffered a minor setback to their title challenge when they sustained an accident and then a fourth-place finish in the two sprint races at Misano recently. The Omani and his German team-mate now hold fifth place in the Gold Cup's Drivers' and Teams' Championships with 49 points, but a strong showing in France would catapult the duo back into title contention. Emil Frey Racing's Chris Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen lead the way on 77.5 points from Sainteloc Racing (63.5 points) and Tresor Attempto Racing (54 points). The Garage 59 Team are fourth on 51.5 points. Oman-based Al Zubair said: 'Really looking forward to Magny-Cours. It's actually a track I've never raced on before. It will definitely not be an easy track for us. We tested there in March so, hopefully, that plays into our hands a little. With the experience we have got with the car, we should hopefully aim for a positive weekend. 'As always, we aim for a podium. We know it won't be easy. But we need to secure some good points for the championship. Misano was a bit difficult after the first race to not score any points. Now we must focus on scoring points this weekend.' The Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is located in central France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers. It staged the Formula One French Grand Prix between 1991 and 2008 and also hosts the Superbike World Championship. A 40-car field of GT World Challenge Europe competitors will share the 4.411km circuit this weekend with entrants in the FFSA French GT Championship, FFSA French Touring Car Championship and FFSA F4, the Alpine Elf Cup series and the Clio Cup series. Free practice for the GT World Challenge entrants starts at 13.20hrs on Friday (August 1st) and precedes pre-qualifying from 20.45hrs. Qualifying for the first of the one-hour Sprint races is scheduled for 14.15hrs on Saturday and race one will get the green light from 20.45hrs. Spectators will then be able to access the pit area from 22.00hrs. The second qualifying session will take place from 09.00hrs on Sunday and precedes another pit walk for spectators from 13.30hrs. The second of the one-hour races will fire into life at 15.00hrs. TEAMS – latest Gold Cup standings 1. Emil Frey Racing 77.5 pts 2. Sainteloc Racing 63.5 pts 3. Tresor Attempto Racing 54 pts 4. Garage 59 51.5 pts 5. Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT 49 pts 6. CSA Racing 9 pts 7. Barwell Motorsport 4.5 pts DRIVERS – latest Gold Cup standings 1. Chris Lulham/Thierry Vermeulen 77.5 pts 2. Gilles Magnus/Paul Evrard 63.5 pts 3. Sebastian Ogaard/Leonardo Moncini 54 pts 4. Louis Prette 51.5 pts 5. Al Faisal al Zubair/Jens Klingmann 49 pts 6. Thomas Fleming 26 pts 7. Adam Smalley 25.5 pts 8. Arthur Rougier/James Kell 9 pts 9. Bijoy Garg/Ricky Collard 4.5 pts
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