Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and Khalid Al-Wahaibi had mixed fortunes in round four of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at a baking-hot Silverstone on Sunday lunchtime.
Lechner Racing Team Middle East’s Al-Zubair started 11th after a strong qualifying session and ran 11th or 12th for much of the race. But after a safety car restart he was hit from behind by an Italian rookie, his Porsche GT3 spun, and he eventually finished a disappointing 27th.
Al-Wahaibi started 21st and climbed impressively through the field to finish the 13-lap race 15th, earning his first Supercup points in only his second race. With several unregistered guest drivers ahead of him, it was an even more productive weekend for his championship tally.
Rookie Florian Latorre converted pole into a stunning first Supercup win, finishing 0.301 seconds ahead of defending champion and series leader Michael Ammermüller of Germany. Mattia Drudi completed the podium, with Larry ten Voorde and Nick Yelloly fourth and fifth.
It was a bad race I guess. Looking at the positives, I had a top 10 pace and we were running 11th or 12th for the whole race and then, after the safety car restart, I got hit from behind by the Italian driver Gianmarco Quaresmini. It was 100% his fault and he came to me and admitted that. I could do nothing about that. Qualifying was good. I am feeling confident. I was inside the top 10 but I am annoyed that I did not get the result that I deserved in the Super Cup.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
It was not such a bad day for me at all – to finish in the points on my birthday. It was quite a good race. It was a case of avoiding mistakes and trying to keep it together. A lot of drivers were locking up, probably because of the heat. I tried to stay with the pack. I had contact on lap three and I think that damaged some of the race for me. I had a lot of vibrations going down the straights and it was difficult.
Khalid Al-Wahaibi
It was a case of managing the tyres to the end. We could have finished a bit higher up the grid, but I am really happy with P15. It’s in the points. Hopefully we can continue this and improve on the next rounds. I would like to qualify a bit higher on the next race to try and avoid all the mid-field mayhem.
Khalid Al-Wahaibi
The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup resumes at the Hockenheim Grand Prix circuit in Germany on July 19-21.