MEDIA INFORMATION
PORSCHE MOBIL 1 SUPER CUP
Round 7 – Spa, August 24-26, 2018
For immediate release
Tuesday, August 21st, 2018
OMAN’S AL-ZUBAIR AND AL-WAHAIBI RESUME PORSCHE
MOBIL 1 SUPER CUP CAMPAIGN IN BELGIUM
· Ammermüller aims to defend slender series lead over Yelloly at Spa circuit
SPA (BELGIUM): After a one-month break in the calendar, Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and Khalid Al-Wahaibi resume their Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup campaign at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in southern Belgium this weekend.
Both drivers have tested at the demanding 7.004km circuit and are relishing the opportunity to challenge the leading group in both Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday morning’s race.
Al-Zubair of the Lechner Racing Team Middle East currently has 12 championship points and lies 15th in the rankings. Al-Wahaibi is tackling the last of his five rounds of the 2018 series and wants to sign off with his best result of the season, while the Sultanate of Oman lies 11th in the Nations League.
Defending champion Michael Ammermüller heads to Belgium with a slender three-point series lead over Nick Yelloly. Recent Hungary race winner Thomas Preining climbed to equal third in the points’ standings with Julian Andlauer and Dylan Pereira, albeit 26 points adrift of the leading German, while Mattia Drudi is four points further behind in sixth place.
Al-Zubair said: “I am very excited about the upcoming round of the championship in Belgium. Testing was very positive, so hopefully we can get some good points.”
Al-Wahaibi added: “Once again I am back in action at a round of the Super Cup. This will be the last of the five races that I am doing this year. I am looking forward to it and, hopefully, it can last more than one corner, like it did in Hungary. We are looking to improve the pace and get closer to the front of the grid. I am quite happy where we have been until now.
“The Super Cup is one of the toughest championships in the world at the moment and I will be glad to keep moving and make a step forward. We have been testing at Spa in the last few weeks, actually two weeks ago. It was quite a good test, although we had problems on the second day. Hopefully we head to Belgium well prepared and aiming to be closer to the front of the grid.”
The Spa-Francorchamps circuit lies close to the town of Francorchamps within the municipality of Stavelot in the forests of Ardennes. The track has undergone numerous revisions and improvements over the years. Formula One returned to the circuit in 2007.
Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup runners will get their first opportunity to practice for 45 minutes from 17.45hrs on Friday evening (August 24) on the longest track in the calendar.
Qualifying for the Porsche drivers takes centre stage at 09.45hrs on Saturday morning (August 25) and the seventh round of the series gets the green light at 11.05hrs on Sunday morning.
The Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup lap record of 2min 25.342sec was set five years ago by the Polish driver Kuba Giermaziak. Norway’s Dennis Olsen claimed pole position and won both of the races at the circuit last year.
Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup – Overall Standings (after round 6):
15th. Al Faisal Al Zubair, 12pts
Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup – Nations League (after round 6):
11th. Oman, 16pts
Ends
For further information:
Firas Nimri, Tel: + 962 7 7728 2000, E-mail: nimrifiras@yahoo.com.