Oliphant pips Zubair for title
dubai — Oman’s racing duet of Al Faisal Al Zubair and rookie Khalid Al Wahaibi enjoyed mixed success in the second race at the second round of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East at the Dubai Autodrome on Saturday afternoon.
Al Zubair of the Lechner Racing Middle East team qualified in third position and moved up a place to finish runner-up to Britain’s Tom Oliphant. Al Wahaibi finished the race in 14th position, having earlier qualified in 13th and climbed to eighth before colliding with another car and dropping back down the running order after a costly spin.
The result means that Oliphant and Al-Zubair have pulled clear of their rivals in the title race after two of six rounds. Germany’s Wolfgang Triller rounded off the podium places and Dutchman Charlie Frijns was fourth.
“It was a really good race and we were battling for the lead until the last lap,” said Al Zubair. “I think Oliphant was gaining an unfair advantage and, without that, I think we would have won the race. He was not respecting the track limits and they gave him a penalty (five places on grid at next race). I am happy with P2, but we should have won the race. It’s tough to pass here, but it was a good battle and I managed to get passed Charlie and put the pressure on Oliphant.”
Al Wahaibi said: “It was a great start and I managed to go from 13th to eighth after my bad qualifying.” The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East returns to the Dubai Autodrome for the fifth and sixth races on January 26 and 27.