Al Faisal finishes 12th at Hockenheim circuit
The Omani star is using the last two rounds of the German series to prepare himself for the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup finale in Mexico
HOCKENHEIM: Al Faisal Al Zubair enjoyed his first taste of racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany at the renowned Hockenheim circuit and finished the first of the weekend’s two races in 12th position.
The Omani is using the last two rounds of the German series to prepare himself for the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup finale in Mexico at the end of the month and he acclimatised well to the pace of a frenetic race held in dry conditions.
“The race was good. We started in P11 and I finished in 12th place on used tyres,” said FZ Racing’s Al Faisal, who teamed up with Lechner Racing again for the weekend. “There were 25 drivers, so I am happy with that.
“Yesterday’s practice session was the only time I got to learn the track. It was quite hard to manage the used tyres in the race but, at least, we will be on new tyres tomorrow and will benefit from the advantage that some of the other drivers had in race one.”
Konrad Motorsport’s Dennis Olsen held a 13-point advantage over Nick Yelloly heading into the weekend and a drive-through penalty cost Yelloly dearly.
Olsen, from Norway, reached the chequered flag in second place, but Yelloly - running under the Team Deutsche Post Project 1 banner - could only recover to finish in 13th. The race win went to Christian Engelhart of the Black Falcon team but Olsen had done enough to clinch the title with one race to spare.
Al Zubair lined up in 11th position on the grid for the shorter of the weekend’s two races on the 4,574km circuit. In dry and bright conditions, Engelhart led Olsen and Michael Ammermuller from pole position into the 14-lap, 64.036km race.
Olsen snatched the advantage through the first turns and began to edge clear of his rivals, as Larry Ten Voorde damaged the rear left wheel on his GT3 and retired and Al Zubair moved up to 10th place. Full story @ timesofoman.com/sports