Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair teams up with Germany’s Fabian Schiller, Zimbabwe’s Axcil Jeffries and new Canadian team-mate Daniel Morad for this weekend’s 74th TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa.
The flagship round of the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup has drawn a huge entry. Al-Zubair and Morad will contest one of the highlights of the GT calendar for the first time in their Al-Manar Racing by HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3.
With Schiller and Jeffries, Al-Zubair won the Silver class at last month’s Paul Ricard 1000kms, and the trio lead Benjamin Goethe, Thomas Neubauer and Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer by two points in the Silver Cup standings.
A record 18 teams and six manufacturers are expected in the Silver Cup, which joined the race in 2018 and has seen Mercedes-AMG and Lamborghini win twice each. In all, 235 drivers are expected across the classes.
I am really looking forward to the Spa 24. It is definitely the highlight of the year for our season, if not for all GT racing around the world. It’s the biggest race and one of the pinnacles of GT racing. I am expecting a huge grid and a lot of Pro cars and cars in our Silver category.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
I believe there are around 70 to 80 cars on the grid, just GT3s. We will be joined by Daniel Morad, a Canadian driver. He was extremely strong in the test. That is a big positive going into the race weekend. We are going to hopefully have four solid Silvers and be able to fight for top positions, like we did at Paul Ricard. In a 24-hour race, the most important thing is to finish and, hopefully, with the minimum penalties possible.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
It’s a long race and the first time for myself and Daniel doing it. Axcil and Fabian have done it before. I can’t wait to get started. Hopefully we can raise the Omani flag high at the end of the race.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
First held in July 1924, the race is running for the 59th successive time following a 10-year break between 1954 and 1963.
Timetable
The team’s track action begins with a 90-minute practice session from 10.50hrs on Thursday, followed by a one-hour pre-qualifying session from 16.15hrs.
Four 15-minute qualifying sessions run between 20.40hrs and 22.00hrs, followed by night practice from 22.20hrs to 23.50hrs.
Support races, warm-up and Super Pole take place on Friday (July 29th), and the race starts at 16.45hrs on Saturday after further support races, with the chequered flag due at 16.45hrs on Sunday.