Latest news with #GTWorldChallenge
Al Bawaba
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Al Bawaba
Maserati Corse announces 'Sparco X Maserati fan collection': the new collection dedicated to racing enthusiasts
The collaboration between Maserati and Sparco continues, as part of Maserati Corse. The two brands, outstanding Italian undertakings in the world of performance and innovation, have launched the new 'Sparco X Maserati fan collection' line of clothing and accessories, to convey the Trident's competitive racing spirit even away from the track and into its fans' everyday lives. The collection is made foe fans and inspired by champions; there could be no better setting for its launch than the GT World Challenge 2025 stage at the Misano circuit, the perfect venue for the Trident's 'home race' as part of the GT2 European Series calendar, between the Maserati GT2s that have racked up successes and the MCXtrema that has captured the attention of all comers to the paddock. The new capsule collection forms an integral part of the partnership launched last year, which has already led to the creation of the 'Maserati Corse Replica' and 'MCXtrema' Racing Kits, complete with suits, helmets, shoes, gloves and technical accessories. Therefore, having kitted out drivers and teams, the two brands have now decided to involve the general public by creating the 'Sparco X Maserati fan collection', to transfer the spirit of the track into everyday life. Specifically, the new line offers distinctive and functional garments that adapt perfectly to every season: from blue and white T-shirts to blue and yellow sweatshirts, from the technical softshell jacket to the ultra-resistant backpack with adjustable shoulder straps and external and internal pockets, all the way to the inevitable baseball caps. The basis of the partnership is the shared principles that mark the excellence of both brands, including artisanship, constant research, the quality of materials and the prestige of Made in Italy. All the products in the new collection bear the colours and logos of Maserati Corse and feature a high level of design and quality, exclusively reflecting the identity and design of the House of the Trident and that unmistakable technical elegance that distinguishes both Maserati, synonymous with high-performance Italian luxury globally, and Sparco, a world leader in the field of technical clothing and motorsport equipment. From the stands to the starting grid. Each garment and accessory in the 'Sparco X Maserati fan collection' thus serves as a bridge between spectators and team, between performance and identity, as a tangible sign of belonging for all those who share the same passion for racing and who wish to proudly wear a genuine emblem of a legendary brand that for almost a century has echoed the roar of its cars on circuits all over the world. Maria Conti, Head of Maserati Corse, stated: 'As Maserati enthusiasts are well aware, our brand was founded on the racetrack and is characterised by an intrinsic vocation for performance. With Sparco, we share a vision based on excellence, innovation and Italian style. To follow the professional racing kits, we wanted to offer garments and accessories that maintain the same spirit of our racing cars and our drivers. This collection represents an authentic extension of the Maserati Corse world, in its natural environment of the track for almost 100 years." Niccolò Bellazzini, Sparco Brand Manager, added: 'Together with Maserati, we share a vision deeply rooted in Italian tradition and common values of design, performance, comfort and elegance. With the new fan collection, we wanted to reflect the meeting of these two personalities, bringing back the visual identity of Maserati Corse in a line tailor-made for anyone wishing to express their passion in everyday life, even off the track."
Newsweek
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Lamborghini Huracan Turns Into Fireball After Scary Crash
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. At a GT World Challenge race, Lamborghini driver Georgi Donczew was involved in a terrifying accident that developed into a fiery wreck. Donczew was fighting side by side with a BMW car when his car made contact, went into a spin, hit the side of the fence, and caught fire as it lost control. Red flag 🔴 A huge accident for the Grasser Lamborghini. Fortunately, driver Georgi Donczew is out of the car immediately. 📺 | #GTMisano — GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS (@GTWorldChEu) July 20, 2025 As the car rode the barriers, it simultaneously caught on fire and became a fireball that shot across the track. The Lamborghini came to a standstill while still engulfed in flames, but Donczew managed to run out of the car and into safety while a red flag was called on the race. Climax Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO (2) Zhou Bihuang of China and Ralf Aron of Estonia leadsTeam KRC BMW M4 GT3 EVO (89) Ruan Cun Fan of China and Maxime Oosten of the Netherlands and other... Climax Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO (2) Zhou Bihuang of China and Ralf Aron of Estonia leadsTeam KRC BMW M4 GT3 EVO (89) Ruan Cun Fan of China and Maxime Oosten of the Netherlands and other cars during the race 2 of GT World Challenge Asia at Sepang More Photo byThe BMW driver, Darren Leung, was battling with the Huracan and addressed the collision after the fact. "I was glad, as soon as I went down, I saw Georgi in the garage, and he was uninjured," Leung said. "We just kind of exchanged a few words about how scary that moment was. I just think it's one of those things. "I didn't expect him to come from a blind spot and come across the front of me. It's such a high-speed corner. That does stuff to the aero in these cars. It does quite a lot. "I did lift, I lifted as much as I could without losing the car myself, and he obviously had a bigger lift. "It looks like I'm trying to go for a move there, but really, I'm trying to give him the space after he came across the front. There wasn't really anything else I could have done. "The most important thing is that he's okay. If you look at the lap before, I gave him plenty of space in the high-speed section. "Unfortunately, for me, that was the situation that resulted in the tiniest of touches between us which had the biggest consequence. Again, I'm glad he's okay." The on-track battle that led up to the collision was purely a racing incident, but it is a reminder of the constant threat drivers face, even the most skilled. Luckily, Donczew walked away from the scene, but when the car was sitting on fire and he didn't immiedately come out, concern grew for his safety. His health being intact is also a testament to the modern safety precautions, including the fire-proof race suits, that protected him amid the flames.
Times of Oman
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Times of Oman
Al-Manar Racing's Al Zubair, Klingmann finish fourth in second Sprint Series race at Misano
MISANO (ITALY): Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and German colleague Jens Klingmann overcame the disappointment of a first-lap retirement from race one to finish fourth in the Gold Cup category in race two at the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Series on Sunday. At the wheel of their BMW M4 GT3 EVO, the duo performed well in the practice and qualifying sessions at the demanding Misano track in Italy, but Al-Zubair was handed a 10-place penalty on the starting grid for race two after the disappointment of the premature retirement from race one. The second race was red-flagged in the early stages and there was a significant delay while circuit armco was repaired. It developed into the longest one-hour race in history and took 3hr 18min to complete by the time the safety aspect of the circuit run-off area had been secured. Al-Zubair eventually handed over to Klingmann for the final 30 minutes but the Al-Manar Racing duo could not make further in-roads and had to settle for fourth place in the Gold Cup category and 20th overall behind the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, the Saintéloc Racing Audi and the race one-winning Garage 59 McLaren. Oman-based Al-Zubair said: 'It was a long race and I think it was a bit difficult because we had a grid penalty to start. We started P32 (overall) but the car felt mega the whole race. We made it up to P21 in my stint but, unfortunately, we lost a bit of time in the pits, about seven seconds, and that dropped us out of P3 in Gold Cup. 'We finished P4. After collecting no points in the first race on Saturday, it was difficult and not the best weekend for us. We hope to collect more points at the next one and continue the fight for the championship. 'In race one, there was a bit of contact at turn six between my team-mate Jens, Chris Lulham and Maxime Martin. We were out of the race but we also got a penalty, so to finish P4 today is a result we should be happy with. Having the car working so well all weekend made it even more frustrating.' Al-Zubair and Klingmann made the perfect start to their race weekend by topping the times in the free practice session on Friday afternoon. They ran for 49 laps with a fastest run of 1min 33.026sec to lead the way from Emil Frey Racing and Saintéloc Racing. They then went on to top the Gold Cup times in the evening's pre-qualifying session. Klingmann finished first qualifying in second place behind Lulham in the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari and would line up in second place in the Gold Cup category and eighth overall on the grid for the first of the one-hour races. The Garage 59 McLaren was third. But lady luck determined that Klingmann's challenge for honours in the first of the races would be short-lived: after a twilight start, the German was clouted from behind after a few turns of lap one and was only able to limp to the pits with rear suspension damage before the Al-Manar Racing BMW was sidelined. The incident also took out pole sitter Lulham and the Briton's demise paved the way for Louis Prette to secure victory in the Gold Cup section for the Garage 59 McLaren after 36 laps of racing. The Monaco driver came home just ahead of Gilles Magnus in the Saintéloc Racing Audi and Leonardo Moncini in the Tresor Attempto Racing Audi. Ricky Collard retired the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini after 11 laps. The race one disappointment left Al-Zubair with it all to do in Sunday morning's qualifying for the second race. Magnus claimed pole for Saintéloc Racing and the Omani settled into fourth place with a best run of 1min 32.952sec after the BMW had been repaired by Team WRT technicians. Unfortunately, Al-Zubair was then handed a five-place penalty on the starting grid, as a result of the incident involving his team-mate in race one. A team appeal had successfully reduced the penalty from an original 10-place drop on the starting grid. The 2025 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Series resumes with round four at Magny-Cours in France on August 1st-3rd.
Times of Oman
16-07-2025
- Automotive
- Times of Oman
Al Manar Racing's Al Zubair and Klingmann aim for sprint success at Misano in Italy
MUSCAT: Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and German team-mate Jens Klingmann return to Sprint Series racing action this weekend when they tackle the third round of the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Series 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
Times of Oman
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- Times of Oman
Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT secure fifth place in Gold Cup class at Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa
SPA (BELGIUM): Al-Faisal Al-Zubair, Jens Klingmann, Ben Tuck and Neil Verhagen picked up valuable points for finishing fifth in the Gold Cup category at the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium on Sunday. 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 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 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 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. 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
