MISANO, ITALY – Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair is back from injury for this weekend’s second sprint round of the International GT Open at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.
The Al-Manar by Dragon Racing star has not raced since a non-finish while chasing a podium at the Michelin 24H Dubai 2026 in mid-January. Now he is eager to get going again, sharing a Ferrari 296 GT3 run by Dubai-based Dragon Racing with 34-year-old Italian David Fuminelli.
Al-Manar Racing has already claimed nine victories in the International GT Open, although Al-Zubair will contest only three rounds this season: Misano, Paul Ricard in mid-July and Monza in late September.
I am very excited to be back in the car. It has been five months since my last race. I don’t remember the last time I had a break out of the car for this long. For sure, it will not be an easy one, especially with the Ferrari being a relatively new car for me. It will just the third time that I am in and the first time in Europe.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
I am looking forward to teaming up with David Fuminelli in the Dragon Racing 296 GT3. I think we have a strong package and we can fight for podiums and, hopefully, a race win as well. I hope we can have a strong comeback to the racing scene and carry on with the momentum we had last year in the upcoming few races.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
Who is David Fuminelli?
Fuminelli began in national karting before moving up to single-seaters in 2008. After a spell in Formula Three, he raced in the GP3 Series and then switched to GT racing in 2014.
In recent seasons he has driven for Kessel Racing in the International GT Open and the Asian Le Mans Series, and he still races with the team in GT World Challenge Europe. At the start of 2026, he also joined Inception Racing to compete in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Misano: a first for the GT Open
The famous 4.226km circuit near Misano Adriatico, in Italy’s Rimini province, hosts the International GT Open for the first time. It was renamed in 2012 in memory of the late MotoGP star Marco Simoncelli. Originally designed in 1969, the track was lengthened in 1993 and began hosting the San Marino round of the MotoGP World Championship in 2007.
The GT Open shares the weekend bill with GT Cup Europe, SuperSport GT and Euroformula Open.
Weekend schedule
- Friday, June 5th: Free practice 1 at 11.15hrs, free practice 2 from 15.40hrs (one hour each)
- Saturday, June 6th: Qualifying 1 (25 minutes) from 10.25hrs; Race 1 (70 minutes, rolling start) at 15.05hrs
- Sunday, June 7th: Driver two qualifying from 09.30hrs; Race 2 (one hour) at 14.15hrs