Monday 14 / April / 2025
Paul Ricard (France): Al Faisal Al Zubair made a strong start to the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS, proudly raising the Omani flag on the podium after securing third place in the Gold Cup category and an impressive 10th overall at the six-hour season opener at Paul Ricard. Racing with Al Manar Racing by Team WRT, Al Faisal, alongside teammates Jens Klingmann and Ben Tuck, delivered a standout performance that sets the tone for a strong season ahead.
After qualifying their BMW M4 GT3 EVO in sixth place, the trio gradually moved through the field and looked set to finish second until Verstappen.com Racing’s Harry King made a late pass on the BMW and snatched the runner-up spot behind the triumphant CSA Racing McLaren of Arthur Rougier, James Kell and Simon Gachet.
Al-Zubair said: “I’m proud to raise Oman’s flag on the podium again. I think finishing 10th overall and third in class on our first time together in GT World Challenge Europe is something we should be proud of. I am happy with how the car performed. We struggled quite a bit in qualifying, but making it into the top 10 and being the third BMW to finish is great. It’s a good sign for the rest of the season. Thanks to the team!”
The Garage 59 McLaren hit the front of the overall race heading into the second hour and Ben Tuck retained sixth place and was running around a lap behind the leading driver Dean McDonald.
Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT climbed to fifth soon after and maintained fifth through the 2.5-hour mark. The Garage 59 McLaren continued to lead the Gold Cup category into three and a half hours of the race, but had slipped to fourth in the overall classification, as the Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW remained in fifth.
The leading McLaren hit trouble in the next segment and, with 90 minutes of the race to run, the CSA Racing McLaren led the Gold Cup category and canny strategies had seen Tuck, Klingmann and Al-Zubair climb to second place.
With 30 minutes of the race remaining, Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT retained second place only to be overtaken late on by the Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO.
The Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT trio used the free practice session on Friday morning to shakedown the BMW with Klingmann setting the best lap of 1min 54.889sec in dry conditions. That put the team just 0.470 seconds off the fastest Gold Cup lap time set by the Garage 59 McLaren.
After a short pre-qualifying session on Friday evening, attention turned to the all-important qualifying stints on Saturday morning.
With the three qualifying sessions combined, pole position in the Gold Cup category went to Adam Smalley, Dean McDonald and Louise Prette in the Garage 69 McLaren with an average qualifying lap of 1min 54.102sec. Al-Zubair, Klingmann and Tuck qualified the BMW M4 in sixth place with a best average time of 1min 54.682sec, their best tour of 1min 54.110sec coming in Q3.
Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT now switches its attention to the opening round of the Sprint series at Brands Hatch in England on May 3rd-4th.
