MISANO, ITALY – Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and Italy’s David Fuminelli finished sixth (fifth in the Pro class) and seventh overall in the two International GT Open races at the Misano World Circuit, marking Al-Zubair’s return to top-level racing.
The Al-Manar by Dragon Racing pair qualified fifth and 10th in the Pro class for the two races. They finished race one in a similar position and climbed to seventh in race two in their Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, run by Dubai-based Dragon Racing.
The Elite Motorsport Ferrari of Tom Emson and Tom Lebbon won race one on the last lap and also topped the order in race two.
It was good to be back after five months out of the car. I haven’t been away for this long since I started racing. Having only two practice sessions before going into the weekend was definitely not the easiest. We finished P7 on Saturday with a 10-second handicap but, unfortunately, qualified P17 on Sunday. We made it to seventh overall in the end and that was pretty positive for our return to racing.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
To be in the top 10 for both races, we can take the positives out of it. We struggled with the car quite a bit if we are honest and need to work hard to find the issues before the next race. My team-mate was great and we had a very positive partnership. It’s a difficult and technical circuit but we have had podiums here before. We need to figure out what we were lacking from the set-up this weekend.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
A strong Pro field
Twenty-nine teams entered across the Pro, ProAm and Amateur categories, with Al-Manar by Dragon Racing up against nine rivals in Pro, including the GetSpeed and Team Motopark Mercedes, AF Corse Ferraris and the ZRS Motorsport Porsche.
Practice and qualifying
Al-Zubair and Fuminelli made a strong start to their new partnership in Friday’s first free practice session, completing 29 laps with a best of 1min 34.478sec, fifth overall and third in Pro. Emson and Lebbon led the Pro times on 1min 34.417sec.
Zac Meakin and Dean MacDonald were fastest in Pro in the second session with 1min 33.416sec in their Greystone GT McLaren. The Al-Manar Ferrari was fifth among the Pro runners on 1min 33.839sec.
Fuminelli drove Saturday morning’s first qualifying session and set his fastest time of 1min 32.229sec on his 12th lap, putting the car fifth in Pro. MacDonald took pole in the McLaren.
Race one: sixth overall, fifth in Pro
Fuminelli settled into fifth in Pro in the opening laps of the 70-minute race as MacDonald set the early pace. After 15 laps he was still fifth and trying to reel in Alex Fontana’s ZRS Motorsport Porsche.
The driver changes reshaped the order after the half-hour mark. Al-Zubair took over late and was fourth in Pro at the start of his stint, with less than 29 minutes to go. He eventually finished sixth overall, fifth in Pro, after a yellow-flag stoppage.
Race two: from 17th to seventh
Al-Zubair qualified for race two, setting his best time of 1min 32.898sec on lap 10. That put the car 10th in Pro and 17th on the 27-car grid, leaving him with plenty of work to do in the one-hour race.
With high track temperatures all weekend, Al-Zubair gained three places overall and one in Pro on the opening lap. By the end of lap two he was up to 12th overall and seventh in Pro.
He was still 12th when the pit window opened and stopped early to hand over to Fuminelli for the final 33 minutes. Once all the driver changes were complete, with less than 22 minutes left, the Italian was seventh overall and held that position to the flag, giving Al-Zubair a confidence-boosting comeback after injury.
The Al-Manar by Dragon Racing pair are back in action at Paul Ricard in France on July 17th-19th.
Misano at a glance
- Race 1: 6th overall, 5th in Pro
- Race 2: 7th overall
- Best qualifying lap: 1min 32.229sec (Fuminelli, Q1)
- Car: Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, Al-Manar by Dragon Racing
- Race winners: Tom Emson / Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport Ferrari