MEDIA INFORMATION
PORSCHE MOBIL 1 SUPER CUP
Round 9 – Monza, Italy, September 1-3, 2017
For immediate release
Saturday, September 2nd, 2017
OMAN’S AL-ZUBAIR TO START MONZA RACE FROM 17TH AS HEAVY RAIN
FORCES ABANDONEMENT OF PORSCHE MOBIL 1 SUPER CUP QUALIFYING
MONZA (ITALY): Torrential rain and standing water forced race officials to abort the qualifying session for the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup on a saturated Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit in Italy on Saturday.
The session had already been delayed for over an hour when rookie Thomas Preining spun into the gravel in the first few minutes and before anyone had recorded a full lap time. The decision to red flag the session from that point meant that times from training on Friday evening were used to determine pole position and the starting line-up for Sunday’s race.
Pole position, therefore, fell to Matt Campbell from Zaid Ashkanani and series leader Michael Ammermüller. Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair will start the race from 17th of the 31 entrants after clocking a best lap of 1min 51.816sec in training with his Lechner Racing Middle East car.
“It was raining extremely heavily and it did not stop,” said FZ Racing’s Al-Faisal. “We went out for one lap and the conditions were terrible. It was a bit dangerous for us and they stopped the session. Now we go back to the times we set in practice.
“Unfortunately, I did not give 100% in that session and my times were not as fast as I wanted. I just wanted to get used to the circuit. I have tested here before but never raced at Monza. So, it is like Spa, a new circuit for me and I hope that I can deliver a good performance and the weather will be better tomorrow.”
Drivers were permitted to take part in what turned out to be an important training session on the famed 5.77km Italian circuit on Friday afternoon. Matt Campbell of the FACH AUTO TECH team topped the timings with a lap of 1min 50.522sec after his 22 tours of the circuit.
Zaid Ashkanani was second and Ammermüller was third. Al-Zubair ran for 18 laps and a best time of 1min 51.816sec moved the Omani into 17th of the 31 drivers.
The ninth round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup takes centre stage from 10.25hrs on Sunday morning.
Ends
For further information:
Firas Nimri, Tel: + 962 7 7728 2000, E-mail: nimrifiras@yahoo.com.
Twitter: @FZRacingOman
You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4nVWoO10jwWCwmgVHur2xw