HOCKENHEIM, Germany: Oman’s Al Faisal al Zubair again joins forces with Germany’s Fabian Schiller and Zimbabwe’s Axcil Jeffries to take part in the three-hour round of the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS – Endurance Cup at Germany’s Hockenheim circuit this weekend (September 2-4).
The trio will compete in their usual Mercedes-AMG GT3 running under the Al Manar Racing by HRT banner and entered in the Silver Cup category. They will be hoping to bounce back from a premature retirement at the recent TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa that saw them slip to third place in the Silver Endurance Cup’s Drivers’ Championship.
Al Zubair said: “I am looking forward to the race, three hours at Hockenheim. Unfortunately, I did not test there personally, as I had schooling commitments. My two team-mates did test there. It was quite positive. I’m excited to getting back in the car after the Spa incident. Hopefully, we get a good bunch of results and keep up the momentum before the last round in Barcelona.”
Benjamin Goethe, Thomas Neubauer and Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer currently top the standings with 84 points and a top finish could see the Audi R8 LMS GT3 trio clinch the title before the final round in Spain. Al Zubair and the Al Manar Racing by HRT team trail the second-placed Nicolas Scholl, Alex Aka and Marius Zug by just six points.
The 4.574km German circuit hosted a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship until 2019 and also hosts German DTM races. It will be open to GT World Challenge Europe competitors for a paid test session from 14.00hrs on Thursday (September 1), before all administration and technical checks are carried out on Friday.
A free practice session runs for 90 minutes from 09.45hrs on Saturday morning and precedes another 90-minute pre-qualifying stint from 14.05hrs.
After sharing the weekend’s timetable with the GT4 European Series, Clio Cup and MitJet2L Trophy Italy, the first of three 15-minute qualifying sessions gets underway from 09.45hrs on Sunday, with each driver taking part in one stint apiece.
The three-hour Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe race is scheduled to fire into life from 15.00hrs.
2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe – Endurance Cup
Silver Cup – current positions (Drivers):
1. Benjamin Goethe/Thomas Neubauer/Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer 84pts
2. Nicolas Scholl/Alex Aka/Marius Zug 50pts
3. Al Faisal al Zubair/Axcil Jeffries/Fabian Schiller 44pts
4. Tuomas Tujula/Stuart White/Konsta Lappalainen 33pts
5. Jordan Love/Alain Valente/Jannes Fittje/Juuso Puhakka 31pts
6. Thomas Drouet/Tommaso Mosca/Casper Stevenson 24pts
6. Louis Proctor/Finlay Hutchinson/Diego Menchaca 24pts
