Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair took a start-to-finish win in the second race of round three of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East at the Dubai Autodrome, while rookie Khalid Al-Wahaibi rounded off a superb weekend for the Sultanate with fifth overall and first in the Silver category.
Lechner Racing Middle East’s Al-Zubair led from pole and fended off a strong challenge from Tom Oliphant to stay right behind the Briton in the standings at the halfway point of a fascinating Middle East winter season.
It was a very good race. I started from pole and my start was definitely better than yesterday. I checked my data at the start and I knew where I was lacking. I fixed it and managed to get away. I don’t think my tyre pressures were so good at the beginning, but they worked during the race. I got faster and faster and, on the last few laps, I relaxed a bit. But it’s good to start on pole and win the race. It was a good weekend.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
Al-Wahaibi extended his GCC Rookie Championship lead over Bahrain’s Ali Al-Khalifa with fifth place and the Silver class win.
I started P4 and did exactly what I had to do in qualifying and started on the second row with the big boys up front. I had two really experienced guys, (Dylan) Pereira and (Glynn) Geddie, behind me. They got passed me at the start and I stuck behind them. Eventually Glynn made a mistake and I managed to get passed and take P5. He put pressure on me and, for eight or nine laps, it was about me not making any mistakes. Thankfully I didn’t and was able to finish P5. I started the season in Bronze and it’s great to win a Silver race.
Khalid Al-Wahaibi
Practice and qualifying
Oliphant beat his 16 rivals in the second practice session with a 1min 39.020sec, 0.239sec faster than Glynn Geddie. Al-Zubair was the top GCC driver in third, and Al-Wahaibi the leading Silver driver in fifth.
Qualifying was different, as Al-Zubair produced his best lap of the day, 1min 38.492sec, for pole, 0.252sec ahead of Frijns. Oliphant qualified third, and Al-Wahaibi set the fourth-fastest time and led the Silver drivers with a 1min 39.024sec.
It was a good session for me, more than two-tenths difference on a short circuit. We should be happy with that. It’s definitely the best place to start the race. The start is a big part of the race.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
This was definitely my best ever qualifying, especially after yesterday’s terrible session. I didn’t want that feeling again that I felt yesterday. Going out on the used tyres definitely helped me prepare for the new tyre run. Mentally, I just told myself not to put too much pressure on myself and we can see the result – P4.
Khalid Al-Wahaibi
The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East continues at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi next weekend.