AL-ZUBAIR AND AL-MANAR RACING TO TAKE PART IN 2024 FANATEC GT WORLD CHALLENGE ENDURANCE CUP
Published: 03:03 PM,Mar 06,2024 | EDITED : 07:03 PM,Mar 06,2024
AL-ZUBAIR AND AL-MANAR RACING TO TAKE PART IN 2024 FANATEC GT WORLD CHALLENGE ENDURANCE CUP
PAUL RICARD (FRANCE): Al-Faisal bin Khalid Al-Zubair and Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed have confirmed that the Omani driver will team up with Austrian Dominik Baumann and Canadian racer Mikaël Grenier to compete in the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup.
The team has been taking part in pre-season testing for the world’s premier endurance series with their Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, which will host the opening round of the five-race series on April 5-7. They have been gathering vital data and fine-tuning the car’s set-up before the season gets underway.
There are also five sprint races in the GTWC programme but the Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed Team will concentrate on the Endurance element, which sees them head from Paul Ricard to additional races at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium (June 27-30), the Nürburgring in Germany (July 27-28), Italy’s Monza circuit (September 21-22) and a new finale at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit (November 21-23).
Al-Faisal said: 'I am happy to return to this championship, which is one of the most prominent global endurance championships. I will participate in five rounds, beginning at the Paul Ricard circuit and ending at the Jeddah Corniche circuit. Of course, our ultimate goal is to compete for the title, which will have a different prospect now with the strong entry list we expect this year, featuring the most prominent car manufacturers and teams. We expect to have 55 cars on the grid, which will add more excitement.'
Recently, Al-Faisal teamed up with Germany’s Fabian Schiller and China’s Anthony Liu to take part in the 2023-2024 Asian Le Mans Series. Al-Zubair and Al-Schiller were well-placed to challenge for the title after the opening two races at Sepang in Malaysia and round three in Dubai. They were not able to push on from pole position and 10th and eighth-placed finishes in the last two races in Abu Dhabi cost them the chance of claiming the title.
The Omani also teamed up with Baumann, Martin Konrad, Fabian Schiller and American racer Anthony Bartone recently to take part in the 19th Hankook 24H Dubai at the Dubai Autodrome. While lying in second place after 15 hours of the race, fuel pump and transmission issues forced the team to retire the car.
Baumann, 33, started his career in 2005 and has been a professional Mercedes driver in the GTWC, ADAC-GT, NLS/VLN and IMSA series since 2010. He won the overall Blancpain GT Series in 2016 with German team-mate Maximilian Buhk.
New recruit Grenier, also 33, will race alongside Al-Zubair for the first time. Hailing from Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury in Québec, he started his career in karting before switching to the Formula BMW Americas series in 2008. After competing in the Star Mazda Championship and Indy Lights Series, Grenier had a season racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia and won the 2017 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe. He switched to the International GT Open and Blancpain GT Series, going on to represent Emil Frey Racing, Winward Motorsport and the Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing in the GTWC before joining Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed for 2024.
Adam Osieka, Getspeed’s CEO, is delighted to renew his association with Al-Manar Racing for a second season. “The team has a strong line-up and three drivers who are very capable of competing and challenging for victories,” said Osieka. “Al-Faisal and Dominik have good experience in GT racing and have achieved some excellent results together in the past. Mikaël will be a strong addition to the team. He was one of our arch-rivals in the 2022 edition of the 24 Hours of Spa.”
The team has been taking part in pre-season testing for the world’s premier endurance series with their Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, which will host the opening round of the five-race series on April 5-7. They have been gathering vital data and fine-tuning the car’s set-up before the season gets underway.
There are also five sprint races in the GTWC programme but the Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed Team will concentrate on the Endurance element, which sees them head from Paul Ricard to additional races at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium (June 27-30), the Nürburgring in Germany (July 27-28), Italy’s Monza circuit (September 21-22) and a new finale at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit (November 21-23).
Al-Faisal said: 'I am happy to return to this championship, which is one of the most prominent global endurance championships. I will participate in five rounds, beginning at the Paul Ricard circuit and ending at the Jeddah Corniche circuit. Of course, our ultimate goal is to compete for the title, which will have a different prospect now with the strong entry list we expect this year, featuring the most prominent car manufacturers and teams. We expect to have 55 cars on the grid, which will add more excitement.'
Recently, Al-Faisal teamed up with Germany’s Fabian Schiller and China’s Anthony Liu to take part in the 2023-2024 Asian Le Mans Series. Al-Zubair and Al-Schiller were well-placed to challenge for the title after the opening two races at Sepang in Malaysia and round three in Dubai. They were not able to push on from pole position and 10th and eighth-placed finishes in the last two races in Abu Dhabi cost them the chance of claiming the title.
The Omani also teamed up with Baumann, Martin Konrad, Fabian Schiller and American racer Anthony Bartone recently to take part in the 19th Hankook 24H Dubai at the Dubai Autodrome. While lying in second place after 15 hours of the race, fuel pump and transmission issues forced the team to retire the car.
Baumann, 33, started his career in 2005 and has been a professional Mercedes driver in the GTWC, ADAC-GT, NLS/VLN and IMSA series since 2010. He won the overall Blancpain GT Series in 2016 with German team-mate Maximilian Buhk.
New recruit Grenier, also 33, will race alongside Al-Zubair for the first time. Hailing from Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury in Québec, he started his career in karting before switching to the Formula BMW Americas series in 2008. After competing in the Star Mazda Championship and Indy Lights Series, Grenier had a season racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia and won the 2017 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe. He switched to the International GT Open and Blancpain GT Series, going on to represent Emil Frey Racing, Winward Motorsport and the Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing in the GTWC before joining Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed for 2024.
Adam Osieka, Getspeed’s CEO, is delighted to renew his association with Al-Manar Racing for a second season. “The team has a strong line-up and three drivers who are very capable of competing and challenging for victories,” said Osieka. “Al-Faisal and Dominik have good experience in GT racing and have achieved some excellent results together in the past. Mikaël will be a strong addition to the team. He was one of our arch-rivals in the 2022 edition of the 24 Hours of Spa.”