Al Zubair takes Al Manar to Gold Cup victory
Despite qualifying in seventh, the trio carried out their pit stop strategy perfectly and were able to move through the field during a yellow flag-interrupted three-hour race to finish fourth overall ahead of nine other rivals in the Gold Cup category in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO. It was another proud day for Al Zubair and the Sultanate of Oman in endurance racing.
The Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin was a distant second overall and the Tresor Attempto Racing Audi rounded off the Gold Cup podium.
A delighted Al Zubair said: 'I'm happy to clinch the win in the Gold Cup Category. Honestly, this is a dream come true. Especially because we started the race from seventh on the grid. But the strategy from Team WRT was excellent. We had the speed throughout the weekend, but in qualifying we faced some issues, particularly in Q3.
'Fourth position in the overall classification and winning the Gold Cup category, this was fantastic. I'm very proud to raise the Omani flag high. We are aiming to achieve even more.' From a start position of seventh in the Gold Cup category, Al Zubair held eighth until a full course yellow brought proceedings to a stop after around 20 minutes. The Garage 59 McLaren had the lead from the CSA Racing McLaren.
Action resumed around the half-hour mark and Al Zubair made up a place to take seventh shortly afterwards. The Omani maintained his composure and was soon up to sixth with the Garage 59 McLaren continuing to lead from the Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin. Herberth Motorsport's Porsche was sidelined after 13 laps.
Al Zubair retained sixth to another full course yellow with around 1hr 50min of the race remaining. The handover to Tuck was a good one and, when action resumed, Tuck held the lead from the Garage 59 McLaren and the Verstappen Aston. The leading six Gold Cup cars were tightly bunched but Tuck retained the lead through 48 laps with 68 minutes of the race remaining. The CSA Racing McLaren had fallen by the wayside after 36 laps. With less than an hour to run there was yet another full course yellow with Tuck still leading. Racing resumed under a green flag with 54 minutes to go and the final changeover to Klingmann was a successful one with the team retaining an advantage over the Aston Martin and the Optimum Motorsport McLaren.
A seventh interruption to the race happened with 31 minutes to run and Klingmann holding the lead and a superb fourth overall. But it was a brief stoppage and the German retained his position, only for a yellow to halt the race for the eighth time with just three minutes left of the 84-lap race.
Al Manar Racing by Team WRT carried out a short unofficial test session on Friday with Al Zubair posting a best lap of 1min 46.840sec.
Free practice took place on Saturday morning for the 10-car field and the fastest lap of the session went to the Nordique Racing Mercedes in the hands of Japan's Kotaka Kazuko. Tuck's best run for the Al Manar Racing by Team WRT operation was 1min 46.345sec and that put the BMW M4 in the middle of the group in fifth.
Pre-qualifying saw the Al Manar Racing BMW down in a subdued eighth with a best lap of 1min 46.694sec in a session won by the Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin.
Klingmann carded a best run of 1min 46.101sec in the first of the two qualifying sessions to put the BMW in sixth of the Gold Cup runners. Tuck ran a 1min 45.826sec lap in Q2 and Al Zubair finished his Q3 stint with a best lap of 1min 46.848sec. With the times collated from the three qualifying stints, the Al Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW lined up on the grid in seventh with pole position falling to the Garage 59 McLaren from the CSA Racing McLaren and the Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin.
Action in the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS resumes with the prestigious Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa on June 25th-29th.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
13 hours ago
- Observer
Plans to retrieve Dahlmeier's body abandoned
ISLAMABAD: Rescuers in Pakistan abandoned plans to retrieve the body of twice Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier of Germany to respect her last wish and avoid risking more lives, fellow climber Thomas Huber said on Thursday. Dahlmeier, 31, was swept away in a rockfall close to the summit of the 6,069 metres Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountain range on Monday, her management and local officials said. She was declared dead on Wednesday evening after air and ground operations to rescue her from the peak in the Gilgit Baltistan (GB) region was not successful. Pakistani officials said on Wednesday that rescue teams led by international climbers and local high-altitude porters would launch anew operation to retrieve her body. "When we saw Laura's body it was clear that she (had) left us. As experienced mountain climbers we decided to not go and retrieve her body," Huber, who's in the GB region, said over the phone. "The body was in a very difficult terrain which would have meant a great risk for the rescue team," said Huber, also a German who was part of the team that went up to rescue Dahlmeier. "We decided to respect Laura's last wish. She didn't want anyone to risk his or her life to retrieve her." The regional government in the GB will also respect the decision taken by the rescuers and the climber's family, a spokesman said. "We will go with the same decision and make no effort to retrieve the body since it involves risk to human life," spokesman Faizullah Faraq said. "She will be considered buried on the mountain like many local and international climbers in the past," he added. Dahlmeier's management said that it was her "expressed and written wish that in a case like this, nobody should risk their life to rescue her. It was her wish to leave her body behind at the mountain in a case like this." Her family was on the way to Pakistan and was expected to arrive in the country on Thursday or Friday, said Karrar Haidri of Al pine Club of Pakistan, a body that regulates expeditions in the mountains. Dahlmeier's climbing partner Marina Eva was rescued and brought to the base camp by a group of climbers and local high altitude porters on Tuesday, tour operator Mohamed Iqbal said. — dpa
Muscat Daily
a day ago
- Muscat Daily
Al Manar Racing's Al Zubair and Klingmann look 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 teammate 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 Saintéloc Racing (63.5pts) and Tresor Attempto Racing (54pts). 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 1.20 pm on Friday and precedes pre-qualifying from 8.45 pm. Qualifying for the first of the one-hour Sprint races is scheduled for 2.15 pm on Saturday and race one will get the green light from 8.45 pm. Spectators will then be able to access the pit area from 10. pm The second qualifying session will take place from 09. am on Sunday and precedes another pit walk for spectators from 1.30 pm. The second of the one-hour races will fire into life at 3. pm.
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
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
