Latest news with #TeamWRT
Observer
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Observer
Al Zubair ready for third round of Misano race
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 4.226 km 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
Muscat Daily
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Muscat Daily
Al Manar Racing's Al Zubair and Klingmann aim for sprint success in Italy
Muscat – Al Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al Faisal al Zubair and his German teammate 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 1.40 pm on Friday and precedes an hour of pre-qualifying from 7.20 pm. The first of the two qualifying sessions gets underway at noon on Saturday with Q2 following at 12.15 pm. The opening one-hour gets the green light at 8.15 pm. Sunday's action sees the second qualifying sessions scheduled for 10.25 am and 10.40 am, respectively, with race two starting at 14.45 pm.
Times of Oman
4 days ago
- 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
Observer
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Observer
Al Harthy finishes 10th in Brazil race
• Oman's Ahmad al Harthy back in the points in Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paolo • Team WRT racer and team-mates Rossi and van der Linde drive faultlessly • Top 10 finish achieved after generally challenging FIA WEC event in Brazil High determination and an immense amount of effort from Ahmad al Harthy, Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde resulted in a very hard-fought top 10 finish in the Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paolo on Sunday, July 13, as the second half of the FIA World Endurance Championship got underway. Contesting an uphill battle all weekend at the famous Brazilian track, the Team WRT trio and the squad itself maximised the performance available to them with the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 after overcoming a difficult qualifying on Saturday, July 12. Never giving in, fantastic teamwork and consistency of performance meant the squad did manage to come away from round five of the FIA WEC season inside the points-paying top 10, a result Al Harthy says was the most which could realistically be achieved this time around at Interlagos. Qualifying, normally such a strong suit for Al Harthy and the Team WRT squad, didn't work out as planned and so the team had to settle for 14th on the grid. The session was incredibly close though, with Al Harthy only missing out on the top 10 cut-off for the Hyperpole session by 0.2 seconds. Al Harthy took the start of the race but after maintaining position initially, he was elbowed down to 17th place. Battling back with strong focus, he was back inside the top 15 with less than 20 minutes of the race elapsed and close behind the sister BMW. Both WRT cars gained two spots each shortly after and Al Harthy then made his first pit-stop from 13th before the end of hour one. Van der Linde took over and when the action settled he was in 12th position, as the team's strategy began to unfold. Climbing through to fifth with one hour and 45 minutes completed, before the end of hour two OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth (MoCSY), and Experience Oman supported Al Harthy returned to the driving seat. Holding sixth position initially, and driving well around the 4.3-kilometre counterclockwise Interlagos track, he concluded his second run nicely inside the top eight as the differing strategies of the teams played out. Van der Linde took over later in hour three with the car in 10th place when he emerged, and the South African reeled off a series of great passes. With three hours and 45 minutes in the book van der Linde had moved up into third and at the next stop Rossi climbed into the BMW for his first miles of the race. When the race order settled once more he held sixth place and after the team's fifth pit-stop, with just under 90 minutes to go, Rossi remained behind the wheel and emerged eighth in LMGT3. Climbing into the top six as the strategies again mixed the order, van der Linde returned to the No.46 car with just half an hour remaining and ultimately finished in 10th position, the highest placed of the BMW entries and a deserved championship point. 'I think it was a very strong race for us, we managed to make up so many positions throughout the six hours and to finish with a championship point makes all of the effort worth it. We know we're not the most competitive car at the moment but hopefully things can change quickly for Austin. We executed a perfect race, I would say one of the best executed in terms of teams, so that's a very proud thing for us and we all drove perfectly as well. Now we have a bit of time to analyse all of the data and hopefully have a more competitive car when we arrive at the Circuit of the Americas for the next round of the championship.' Al Harthy said From South America, the FIA World Endurance Championship will head north next to the United States of America for round six of the season, the Lone Star Le Mans at COTA in Austin, Texas, over the weekend September 6-7. Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paolo LMGT3 Race Result: 1st Jose Maria Lopez / Clemens Schmid / Petru Umbrarescu (Akkodis ASP Team / Lexus RC F) 2nd Charlie Eastwood / Tom Van Rompuy / Rui Andrade (TF Sport / Corvette Z06) 3rd Eduardo Barrichello / Valentin Hasse Clot / Anthony McIntosh (Racing Spirit of Leman / Aston Martin Vantage AMR) 4th Michelle Gatting / Rahel Frey / Celia Martin (Iron Dames / Porsche 911 GT3 R) 5th Finn Gehrsitz / Arnold Robin / Yuichi Nakayama (Akkodis ASP Team / Lexus RC F) 10th Ahmad al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde (Team WRT / BMW M4) 2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Driver Standings (after Rd5): 1st Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz / Ryan Hardwick, 89pts 2nd Alessio Rovera / Francois Heriau / Simon Mann, 76pts 3rd Ben Keating / Daniel Juncadella / Jonny Edgar, 66pts 14th Ahmad al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde, 22pts 2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Team Standings (after Rd5): 1st Manthey 1st Phorm (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 89pts 2nd Vista AF Corse (Ferrari 296), 76pts 3rd TF Sport (Corvette Z06), 66pts 13th Team WRT (BMW M4 LMGT3), 22pts
Muscat Daily
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Muscat Daily
Points return for Al Harthy and Team WRT at Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
Muscat – Oman's Ahmad al Harthy and his teammates – Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde – delivered a gritty and determined performance to secure a hard-earned top-10 finish at the Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo on Sunday, as the FIA World Endurance Championship entered its second half. Contesting an uphill battle all weekend at Interlagos, the Team WRT trio and the squad maximised the performance available to them with the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 after overcoming a difficult qualifying on Saturday. 'I think it was a very strong race for us, we managed to make up so many positions throughout the six hours and to finish with a championship point makes all of the effort worth it,' said Al Harthy. 'We know we're not the most competitive car at the moment but hopefully things can change quickly for Austin. 'We executed a perfect race, I would say one of the best executed in terms of teams, so that's a very proud thing for us, and we all drove perfectly as well. Now we have a bit of time to analyse all of the data and hopefully have a more competitive car when we arrive at the Circuit of the Americas for the next round of the championship.' Al Harthy took the start of the race, but after maintaining position initially, he was elbowed down to 17th place. Battling back with strong focus, he was back inside the top 15 with less than 20 minutes of the race elapsed and close behind the sister BMW. Both WRT cars gained two spots each shortly after and Al Harthy then made his first pit-stop from 13th before the end of hour one. Van der Linde took over and when the action settled he was in 12th position, as the team's strategy began to unfold. Climbing through to fifth with one hour and 45 minutes completed, before the end of hour two OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman-supported Al Harthy returned to the driving seat. Holding sixth position initially, and driving well around the 4.3-kilometre counterclockwise Interlagos track, he concluded his second run nicely inside the top eight as the differing strategies of the teams played out. Van der Linde took over later in hour three with the car in 10th place when he emerged, and the South African reeled off a series of great passes. With three hours and 45 minutes in the book van der Linde had moved up into third and at the next stop Rossi climbed into the BMW for his first miles of the race. When the race order settled once more he held sixth place and after the team's fifth pit-stop, with just under 90 minutes to go, Rossi remained behind the wheel and emerged eighth in LMGT3. Climbing into the top six as the strategies again mixed the order, van der Linde returned to the No.46 car with just half an hour remaining and ultimately finished in 10th position. The FIA World Endurance Championship will now head to the United States of America for round six of the season, the Lone Star Le Mans at COTA in Austin, Texas, over the weekend of September 6-7.
