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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Al Faisal looks ahead after learning from debut season

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MUSCAT, Nov 13 - He is the emerging prince of Oman motorsports and all of 19, Al Faisal al Zubair has kickstarted his professional journey on a firm footing.  Having made his Porsche Super Cup debut in 2017, Al Faisal came up with a very creditable 14th place overall racing against vastly experienced drivers like his Lechner Racing team-mate Michael Ammermuller and Norwegian Dennis Olsen.


To be able to stand on his own on a platform such as the Porsche Super Cup which is one of the oldest support races in the world to Formula 1, Faisal comprehends the appreciation coming his way.


“I think it’s a great season that I have had, it is definitely the toughest Porsche category..there are 20 of them around the world..Super Cup is the top of the top,’’ Al Faisal added.


The young man, who was the 2016 GCC Porsche GT3 rookie champion, stated that his debut season was all about learning and absorbing as much as he could.


“I think in that aspect nothing better to learn from. We were trying to put up a dominant performance and results were getting better from round to round. I learnt as much as I could in a season,’’ he explained.


It was a season where Al Faisal had his share of ups and downs quite expectedly being his first season on the circuit. But he was upto the task while handling the pressures that came with it.


“Yeah well.. Budapest was very good race for us, finishing ninth out of 30 drivers. I felt we really proved something there.. That was the high point. In general, it is a good debut season,’’ he added.


Motorsports analyst Firas Nimri (left) interacts with Al Faisal al Zubair (centre) and Walter Lechner of Lechner Racing.[/caption]

It was in the ever-tricky Spa circuit in Belgium that Al Faisal faced the troubles. Unable to win any points, the Omani lad was richer only by the experience gained at arguably one of the toughest racing circuits in the world.


“It was not a great two races. After that I bounced back and kept going. I had a good outing at Monza,’’ he said.


Al Faisal also put the debut season in perspective and stressed on the learning aspect.


“See if you remember at the start of the season when we had a press conference, I had said that we (Lechner Racing) are looking to finish in the top 15 and despite some hard results, we have managed to come 14th and that I feel is a good effort,’’ he added.


“In the Super Cup, you have people who are winning championships with seven years of experience or maybe even more and to compete with people like that is definitely a big learning curve,’’ he elaborated.


Hopefully, we will bring the experience back to the Middle East and get a few good results.


Talking about his interaction with other drivers on the circuit, Al Faisal said their inputs were valuable too.


“There are a lot of fast team-mates, we share data. Learning their experience, media handling etc,’’ Al Faisal said.


Al Faisal felt his mental aspect has also improved. “Mentally I’m lot more stronger than last year. I am much more confident..blanking external things out during race weekends,’’ he added.


Looking forward to the new season, Al Faisal said the focus is now on the Porsche GT3 Middle East Challenge.


“Middle East is coming up this weekend..we have pre-season tests..it should be a really good championship and I’m very positive,’’ he concluded.


Ahmad wishes


al Faisal well


Champion racer Ahmad al Harthy, meanwhile, extended his support to Faisal and said he felt Al Faisal had all the essential attributes to be successful.


“The best thing about Al Faisal is his willingness to listen and learn and with the talent he possesses, there is no stopping him,’’ he added.


Ahmad also felt Al Faisal was the best judge of his racing and would know the areas he needs to work on.


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