MEDIA INFORMATION
PORSCHE GT3 CUP CHALLENGE MIDDLE EAST
Races 7-8 – Yas Marina, February 2-3, 2018
For immediate release
Tuesday, January 30th, 2018
OMAN’S AL-ZUBAIR AND ENGLAND’S OLIPHANT RESUME
PORSCHE GT3 CUP CHALLENGE SERIES DUEL IN ABU DHABI
· Young Omani Al-Wahaibi looks to close in on Silver category leaders
ABU DHABI (UAE): There is no respite in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East and Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and Khalid Al-Wahaibi will be back in action for round four and races seven and eight of the series at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit this weekend.
Al-Zubair of the Lechner Racing Middle East enjoyed a second place and a race win in Dubai last weekend and heads to the UAE capital trailing series leader Tom Oliphant by just six points, after the pair shared the winning spoils in Dubai. Dutchman Charlie Frijns is a distant third in the points’ standings, 26 adrift of Al-Zubair.
“I am very excited for the Abu Dhabi race after a very short break since the race in Dubai last weekend,” said Al-Zubair. “I am prepared for it and will be aiming for a win or two. The championship fight is pretty close. I am in second place and, I think, the pressure is on the championship leader. I am focusing on each race one at a time. To win the championship would be amazing.”
Al-Wahaibi delivered an excellent race two performance in Dubai as well and the rookie moved up to seventh in the overall driver standings and into third in the Silver series behind Sweden’s Magnus Oehman and Christoffer Bergström. He also increased his lead over Bahrain’s Ali Al-Khalifa to a massive 38 points in the GCC Rookie Championship, while both Al-Zubair and Al-Wahaibi are classified in first and second in the GCC Porsche GT3 Championship after six races.
Al-Wahaibi said: “I’m really looking forward to the races at Yas Marina after a good weekend in Dubai. I want to carry this form on to the remaining few rounds and, hopefully, just keep improving and keep gaining experience. I learned a lot at the last round in Dubai about the car and how to handle situations in the race and in qualifying. That is what this first season is all about.”
Teams will tackle races on both Friday and Saturday at Yas Marina and will be permitted free practice in the mornings, prior to the all-important qualifying sessions.
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