Al Faisal, Soucek hope to end season on a high
INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN
ROUND SEVEN
A debut season for the Omani-Spanish duo of Al Faisal al Zubair and Andy Soucek in the highly-competitive 2021 International GT Open Series comes to a close when the pair competes in the seventh and final round of the series at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, on the weekend.
The Lechner Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R duo have had some scintillating performances throughout the season and are confident of ending their season on a high.
The team heads to the northern Spanish circuit with Soucek still holding a mathematical chance of sealing the title.
Illness forced Al Faisal to miss the mid-season race meeting at the Hungaroring circuit and the Omani driver currently holds third place in the series, 18 points behind his teammate in the Drivers’ Championship.
Ahead of the final round, Al Faisal said, “I am very excited to be back for the last round of the GT Open Series. It is great to be at a track like Barcelona, where we have tested before.
“I think we will be quite strong. It’s been a great season and I am looking forward to ending it on a high. No matter what happens, we cannot complain about our first season in endurance racing. That will not stop us pushing flat out for the last round.”
The clear favourites to clinch the title are current leaders - Michele Beretta and Frederick Schandorff of their Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Lamborghini.
The ever-consistent duo have won four races and lead Soucek by 22 points heading into a 70-minute race on Saturday and a one-hour final race on Sunday.
Soucek would need non-finishes for the Lamborghini crew to stand a realistic chance of snatching the title at the 11th hour.
Saying that, it has still been a tremendous season so far for the Lechner Racing pair with a race one victory at Spa and a race two win at Imola already under their belts.
Belgium’s Baptiste Moulin and Japan’s Yuki Nemoto are their closest rivals after six rounds and 12 races on some of the most famous circuits in Europe.
Three practice sessions have been sanctioned in Barcelona for Friday before the first 30-minute qualifying session for race one starts on Saturday morning.
After sharing the circuit with various Caterham and Euroformula racing disciplines, International GT Open race one fires into life with a rolling start in afternoon.
The second 30-minute qualifying session is scheduled for Sunday morning and precedes the one-hour second race, starting in the afternoon.
I am very excited to be back for the last round of the GT Open Series. It is great to be at a track like Barcelona, where we have tested before. I think we will be quite strong
AL FAISAL AL ZUBAIR