Al Faisal & Co head to Nurburgring for GT World Challenge

NURBURGRING, Germany: Oman’s Al Faisal al Zubair and team-mates Jens Klingmann and Ben Tuck have arrived at the Nurburgring with Al Manar Racing by Team WRT to prepare for this Sunday’s penultimate round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS.
The trio will tackle the endurance race on the 5.1km GP-Strecke circuit in their Al Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO. They currently hold second place in the Teams’ Championship behind Verstappen.com Racing and third in the drivers’ series, albeit a single point behind the second-placed CSA Racing trio of Arthur Rougier, Simon Gachet and James Kell.
Al Zubair said: “I am very excited to be at the Nurburgring. We are nearing the championship finale. This is the third round to last and the penultimate Endurance round and then we have one more Sprint in Valencia before the final Endurance race in Barcelona.
“So far, we are doing a good job to be in second place in the overall (Gold Cup) championship. It is not so easy with some extremely strong opposition. The Verstappen car, for example, is also fighting for the top 10 and maybe the top five in the overall championship. We have done a good job, especially from the Endurance side, and I am looking forward to having some more success before the end of the season.”
Sixty-one cars and 10 manufacturers have entered the weekend’s 14th GTWC event to be held at the famous German circuit.
Gold Cup opposition comes from the Optimum Motorsport McLaren, Team RJN’s McLaren, the Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin, the Garage 59 and CSA Racing McLarens, Paul Motorsport’s Lamborghini, Tresor Attempto Racing’s Audi and the Herberth Motorsport and Wright Motorsport Porsches.
The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS shares the race weekend with the GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo and McLaren Trophy Europe.
Free practice begins at 09.15hrs on Saturday (August 30) and is followed by pre-qualifying from 14.30hrs.
A hectic Sunday’s action gets underway with the three qualifying sessions, starting at 09.00hrs, 09.22hrs and 09.45hrs, respectively. The endurance race then fires into life at 15.00hrs.
2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
TEAMS – latest Gold Cup standings
1. Verstappen.com Racing 91 pts
2. Al Manar Racing by Team WRT 69 pts
3. CSA Racing 66 pts
4. Garage 59 33 pts
5. Optimum Motorsport 30 pts
6. Tresor Attempto Racing 29 pts
7. Paul Motorsport 29 pts
8. Team RJN 26 pts
9. Ring Motorsport 23 pts
10. Herberth Motorsport 21 pts
DRIVERS – latest Gold Cup standings
1. Lulham/Vermeulen/King 91 pts
2. Gachet/Rougier/Kell 66 pts
3. Al Zubair/Klingmann/Tuck 65pts
4. Pla 33 pts
5. Prette/Smalley/McDonald 31 pts
6. Schandorff 29 pts
7. Mancini/Ogaard/Cazzaniga 26 pts