Omani racer to represent Al Manar Racing by HRT in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe at Imola
IMOLA, Italy: Oman’s Al Faisal al Zubair begins a brand new challenge for honours in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS at the opening round of the increasingly popular championship on Italy’s demanding Imola race circuit this weekend.
Al Zubair will represent the Al Manar Racing by HRT operation in the 17-strong Silver Cup category, alongside team-mates Fabian Schiller and Axcil Jeffries. Schiller actually posted the fastest lap time during pre-season testing in the team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 in France.
A further four HRT Mercedes-AMGs will line-up on the grid, alongside four Lamborghinis, a quartet of Audis, two McLarens and a pair of Porsche GT3s.
With 52 cars scheduled to line up at the start of the three-hour race across all the classes, officials have confirmed this is the biggest Endurance Cup grid, outside of the 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium since 2018, and a record number of entries in the Silver Cup.
Al Zubair said: “I am really looking forward to the start of the championship. It is definitely the toughest championship that I will have participated in. I am in the silver category, which is extremely tough. I believe there are 17 entries in the silver class. So, it will be extremely difficult, especially with a grid of over 50 cars.
“I think for the first weekend we just need to go and make sure that we have a relatively strong position in our class. That will be our target. The target for the season will be to finish in the top three in the silver class and maybe even win it. No expectations to really win, but we will be doing our best. We have a strong line-up and an extremely strong team. I am excited now to get the season started.”
Team-mate Jeffries, 24, was born in Zimbabwe and is a professional racing driver and a senior race instructor at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. Last year he took part in Asian Le Mans Series, International GT Open and FIA World Endurance Championship races.
Schiller is also 24-year-old and began his career in karting, before moving into formula and sports car racing. Last year, he competed in the GT World Challenge Europe and Nurburgring Endurance Series.
Earlier this season, Al Zubair had teamed up with Dutchman Indy Dontje, Germany’s driver Luca Stolz and Austrian Martin Konrad to finish fifth overall in the second of two Mercedes-AMG GT3’s run by the Haupt Racing Team to take part in the Hankook Dubai 24H.
The 2022 series will be run over 10 rounds at Imola, Brands Hatch, Magny-Cours, Circuit Paul Ricard, Zandvoort, Misano, Spa, Hockenheim, Valencia and Barcelona.
Officially known as Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola first hosted the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe in 2020.
Action for the Silver Cup teams on the 4.9km anti-clockwise circuit begins with free practice between 09.00hrs and 10.30hrs on Saturday morning. This precedes a pre-qualifying session (13.40hrs-15.10hrs).
Sunday’s track action gets underway with a one-hour qualifying stint, starting at 09.00hrs, and the lights go out at the start of the opening three-hour endurance race of the season from 15.00hrs. Nine manufacturers will be represented on the grid across the classes.
The weekend’s timetable also features support races for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Fanatec GT2 European Series and GT4 European Series.
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