DUBAI, UAE – Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair, Fabian Schiller and newcomer Anthony Liu aim to advance their 2023/24 Asian Le Mans Series campaign at Sunday’s 4H of Dubai.
After fourth in GT in both rain-soaked races at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit in December, the team hopes for kinder conditions at the Dubai Autodrome.
Last weekend Al-Zubair and Schiller were part of a five-driver crew that ran second overall in the Hankook 24H Dubai before technical issues forced their Getspeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to retire after 15 hours. Martin Konrad was in that line-up, but his seat in the Al-Manar Racing Mercedes goes to Liu for round three.
The 41-year-old from Shanghai has raced in Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia and the Asian Le Mans Series for several years, and finished eighth in the second Sepang race in the Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes with Jules Gounon and Jayden Ojeda.
This weekend is the second round of Asian Le Mans in Dubai. The following weekend we are in Abu Dhabi. Hankook was good track time to prep for it. It’s a different tyre compound but track time is definitely beneficial. We are hoping to have a little better luck there. Last weekend I was invited by Anthony Bartone, who had me on his car. For Asian Le Mans, we are back to the Al-Manar Racing white car. Hopefully we repeat what we did last year in Asian Le Mans and get some wins.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
The first two races were won by Saintéloc Racing’s Christopher Haase, Gilles Magnus and Alban Varutti (Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II) and Pure Rxcing’s Klaus Bachler, Joel Sturm and Alex Malykhin (Porsche 911 GT3 R). Twenty-three of the 42 cars are in GT. Varutti, Haase and Magnus lead the drivers’ standings on 44 points, with Al-Zubair, Schiller and Konrad equal third on 24. Saintéloc (44) leads the teams from Pure Rxcing (33) and Al-Manar Racing (24).
The series is a joint venture between the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), Asian Endurance Management and SRO Motorsports Group. A 90-minute practice starts at 10:10 on Saturday, February 3, with GT qualifying at 14:30, and the 4H of Dubai starts at 13:00 on Sunday, February 4.