MEDIA INFORMATION
PORSCHE CARRERA CUP DEUTSCHLAND
Red Bull Ring – Austria, June 8-10, 2018
For immediate release
Saturday, June 9th, 2018
OMAN’S AL-ZUBAIR SURVIVES A SPIN IN DRAMATIC RACE ONE AT SPIELBERG
· Khalid Al-Wahaibi enjoys first European Porsche race with useful finish
SPIELBERG (AUSTRIA): Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and Khalid Al-Wahaibi survived a dramatic opening race at the Red Bull Ring, the first half of the second round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland in Spielberg, Austria, on Saturday afternoon.
Al-Zubair was running ahead of his young Omani colleague until he suffered a collision, spun out in traffic after 10 of the 17 laps and had to fight his way back through the mid-field to the finish. Al-Wahaibi reached the chequered flag just outside the top 10 on his European Porsche racing debut.
Austrian driver and pole position winner Thomas Preining and Germany’s Michael Ammermüller completed a 1-2 finish for the BWT Lechner Racing Team, while Dutchman Larry ten Voorde finished third.
Al-Zubair said: “I got hit in the first lap and, from then on, the balance of the car completely went. I was running P13 in a race that had become damage limitation. I went in for another move and got hit completely, spun and had an accident. After that, I was just trying to catch up. Today it was a bit more than just touching out on the track.”
“It was a good start to my European season,” said Al-Wahaibi in contrast. “We started in P19 and I finished P12 or 13, not sure exactly because the results are not final. It was a huge grid so you always have a lot of cars in front of you and behind you. It’s a great way to learn. I start further up the field for the second race in P16. Hopefully we can keep moving forward.”
Al-Zubair, driving for the Lechner Racing Team Middle East team, and his fellow countryman Al-Wahaibi struggled with the traffic on the circuit in qualifying, but were moved up to 14th and 17th for the start of race one.
Preining and Ten Voorde filled the front row of the grid and the Austrian held his line and the lead through lap one, as Ammermüller moved into second place and Peter Scheufen spun out and Dylan Pereira survived a spin himself and slipped to 30th position. Al-Zubair and Al-Wahaibi held 15th and 16th through lap two.
Both Omanis gained another place each on lap three and Al-Wahaibi passed Al-Zubair soon afterwards to move into 14th position. Preining, Ammermüller and Ten Voorde held the podium positions into lap seven and Al-Zubair regained 14th from Al-Wahaibi. Pereira continued to climb through the field and moved into 21st.
Al-Zubair spun out after a collision in traffic on lap 10 and dropped to 23rd position, as Al-Wahaibi benefited to gain 14th. The rookie gained another place to 13th on the next lap, as the leading trio maintained their positions heading into the last three laps and Al-Zubair retained 23rd.
Igor Waliko suffered a collision, retired in the gravel and his demise from seventh place promoted Al-Wahaibi to 12th and Al-Zubair to 22nd. The defending Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East driver moved up another place to 21st.
The safety car was brought out on lap 15 of 17, after Marius Nakker retired and the flag went green with one lap remaining. Preining held on to fend off Ammermüller and Ten Voorde to seal the victory.
Al-Wahaibi lost two places after the restart to finish 14th and Al-Zubair reached the chequered flag in the mid-field after gaining several positions after his 10th-lap incident.
Practice and qualifying
Florian Latorre topped the times in Friday’s training session with a best lap of 1min 31.919sec with Preining and Ammermüller a close second and third.
Al-Wahaibi delivered an impressive showing under the MRS Cup-Racing banner and ran for 23 laps with a fastest tour of 1min 32.616sec to slot into seventh position. Al-Zubair also ran for 23 laps in his training session and carded a best lap of 1min 32.844sec to finish the stint in 10th of the massive 35-car field.
The Omani duo endured mixed fortunes in the qualifying session that was won by Preining from Ten Voorde and Ammermüller for race one and Preining, Ammermüller and Dylan Pereira for race two. Al-Zubair qualified 16th and 18th and Al-Wahaibi earned 19th for both races.
Al-Zubair said: “Not good really. We qualified P18. There were a few mistakes from my side and, when it counted, we got a bit of traffic. It is so close but I know we have the pace.”
“That was definitely a new experience for me,” added Al-Wahaibi. “There are a lot of cars on the grid compared to what I have been used to in the Middle East. I had to get used to traffic. It was difficult to put the sectors together.
Race two fires into life at 11.40hrs on Sunday.
Ends
For further information:
Firas Nimri, Tel: + 962 7 7728 2000, E-mail: nimrifiras@yahoo.com.