BARCELONA, SPAIN – Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and German team-mate Fabian Schiller took a stunning second place in the final race of the 2023 International GT Open at the 4.657km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday afternoon.
After being taken out from pole at the first corner of Saturday’s race one, Al-Zubair qualified the Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 third for race two, and Schiller secured second by passing Charlie Fagg’s Optimum Motorsport McLaren on the final lap.
After yesterday’s accident, which was very unfortunate, we started on P3 after one of the guys got a penalty for cutting, so that was a great qualifying. But I lost a few positions on the start. But finishing P2 was very good. We are very happy with that.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
Schiller had taken pole for race one with 1min 38.832sec.
We had some trouble on Friday but the car was mega in qualifying. It’s nice to be back in the GT Open with no pressure.
Fabian Schiller
Race one
Despite a 20-second success handicap, the pair planned to push for victory against David Fumanelli’s Kessel Ferrari, Fagg and Yannick Mettler’s CBRX by SPS Mercedes. But at turn one Schiller was sandwiched between Mettler and Fagg; the McLaren was hit from behind and all three spun and were stranded. Mettler and Schiller reached the pits, and after a yellow flag the race restarted on lap four, but Schiller retired the Mercedes. Eastalent Racing’s Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase won and took the points lead, helped by a successful appeal after a recent race in Austria.
Race two
Oregon Team’s Maximilian Paul took pole in his Lamborghini with 1min 38.900sec, with Haase second and Al-Zubair fourth on the grid alongside Dominik Baumann’s SPS Mercedes. In warm, dry conditions, Mikaeel Pitamber and Baumann won for SPS, while Schiller pressured Fagg through the closing minutes after a late safety car and passed him with a stunning last-lap move.
Reicher and Haase tied on points with Motopark’s Diego Menchaca after four teams entered the final race within nine points, and the Audi pair took the title on countback with one more second place during the season.