Amman, Oct 7 - The Sultanate’s young racing star Al Faisal al Zubair unveiled his programme for the coming season in a special press conference held in Amman city in Jordan on Saturday. Dignitaries, including Khamis bin Mohammed al Farsi, the Sultanate’s Ambassador in Jordan, attended the event. Al Faisal, the defending champion of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, said he will work hard this season to defend his title in its tenth edition. The 20-year-old Omani will also take part in Porsche Mobil 1 International Super Cup and makes to the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East championship for a third time.
Best destination
Commenting on the selection of Amman city for the press conference, Al Zubair said: “Jordan is one of the well-known countries in motors sport and hosting series of international motors events. ‘Paha Jordan’ Rally was one of the main rally tournaments which concluded recently in Jordan. In addition to that, Jordan is one of the best destination for the sport motors enthusiasts.” The young Omani driver mentioned that the mechanism of recording the points of races is slightly changed in this edition of the Porsche GT3 Cup as all the races will be calculated, while in previous races the driver has the chance to delete two lowest results. He added that this will add more positive side to the driver as he will fight to gain better and top results.
“I learned a lot from my previous participation in recent years. In my first participation, I gained the race experience, while in the second participation I succeed to lift the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East championship for first time at an age of 19 years. Now, I am looking ahead to retain the title,” Al Zubair added. “Internal circuit Motor sports in the Sultanate is growing rapidly. If we are back to ten years ago, we can note that there were no known champions. Nowadays, we are proud to have champions such as Ahmed al Harthi, Khalid al Wahaibi and Shihab al Habsi. Also, I would like to appreciate role of Suleiman al Rawahi, Chairman of Oman Automobile Association (OAA), as he is the main supporter of all Omani internal circuit drivers,” Al Faisal pointed out.
Tough championship
On the other hand, Walter Rechner said that it is very difficult to win the championship. “It is more difficult to win the race. He has the pressure as he is the previous winner. Also, he will work hard to defend the title. No one can expect the winners and you do not have any guarantee to win the championship again. He must fight for it and try to collect as much as points and do the best. I think he is well prepared during summer season. It is going to be a tough championship as many of good international and local drivers will take part in the race.
“It is our pleasure to be part of Al Faisal al Zubair’s press conference to know the next participation programme in the upcoming races. It is essential to support Omani talented everywhere as they play important roles to raise the Sultanate’s flag high at international races,” Khamis al Farsi, the Sultanate’s Ambassador in Jordan, said. “There are many great examples of Omani drivers succeeding in this field including Hamed al Wahaibi, the Omani rallying legend. I wish all the best for Al Faisal and we hope he record very top results,” Al Farsi concluded. A large number of Jordanian and Arabian representatives of motors sports media came to cover the event.
Adil Al Balushi
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