Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and rookie Khalid Al-Wahaibi resume their Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East campaigns at the Dubai Autodrome this weekend.
After a winter break following the opening meetings in Bahrain and Dubai in November and December, the two Omanis return to the UAE with very different goals.
Title fight
Lechner Racing Middle East’s Al-Zubair and closest rival Tom Oliphant have pulled clear in the overall title race, and Al-Zubair knows how important it is to beat the Briton at the Autodrome to keep up the momentum that has made him a real contender.
Oliphant leads by six points after the pair won a race each in Dubai. Charlie Frijns and Magnus Oehman are a distant third and fourth after four races.
I am excited for the upcoming weekend. We have Dylan Pereira my team-mate from the Super Cup, so he will be a very quick driver and then, obviously, we have Oliphant, Frijns and a few others. I think it will be difficult, but I am up for it and ready to push and, hopefully, get a win or two. I am aiming for wins. My goal is now the championship. We need to get strong points’ finishes and finishing ahead of Oliphant is the goal. It’s a long season, so it’s about consistency.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
Al-Wahaibi steps up
Young Al-Wahaibi has just been promoted to the Silver category and keeps improving with every race of his very short career. Despite his inexperience he is eighth in the championship after scoring in all four races, fourth in the Silver standings, and leads the GCC Rookie Championship by 10 points from Bahrain’s Ali Al-Khalifa.
I am looking forward to getting back into the car in Dubai, especially after the long winter break. It’s a good way for me to prove myself once again and develop as a racing driver in the Porsche Cup car. Hopefully, the aim is to achieve another top 10 result and move up the Silver category. After the last time out on the track we were pretty quick and I need to keep building on that. I need to use the test days as much as possible to improve.
Khalid Al-Wahaibi
The two races take place on Friday (January 26th) and Saturday (January 27th) at the Dubai Autodrome, after the usual practice and qualifying sessions, on a weekend that also features the FIA F4 UAE Championship and the UAE Sportbike Championship.