HUNGARY: The Omani Al Faisal Al Zubair and German team-mate Fabian Schiller delivered a devastating display of controlled and attacking driving to snatch victory in the opening International GT Open race at the Hungaroring in Hungary on Saturday.
The Al Manar Racing by Getspeed Mercedes AMG GT3 started the race from third in the Pro class and Schiller stormed through the field in the closing laps of the second stint to overhaul his rivals and snatch a famous win.
The Al Manar Racing Mercedes finished 5.810 seconds clear of the second-placed Eastalent Racing Audi R8 of Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase. The Oregon Team Lamborghini Huracan finished third.
Al Zubair said: “It was a very good race today in the GT Open. Honestly, the car was amazing. The team did a great job and Fabi was the driver to give credit to this time. I pitted from P4 and Fabi did all the hard work. But it’s another win and we are excited for the second race but the 20-second handicap will not be easy.”
International GT Open drivers took to the Mogyoród circuit for a pair of one-hour free practice sessions on Friday.
The Al-Manar Racing Mercedes was classified in second place with a best run of 1min 45.078sec during a 28-lap opening stint. The quickest tour of the session fell to the Liqui Moli Team Engstler Audi R8 LMS of Kwanda Motswasele Mokoena and Luca Engstler.
The Al Manar Racing car was classified fourth of the Pro category runners in the second practice stint with the session win falling to Reece Barr and Mikaeel Pitamber in the SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes in customary warm summer racing conditions.
Al Zubair took the hot seat in the first qualifying session and the Omani posted a best lap of 1min 43.709sec to put the Al Manar Racing Mercedes into third of the Pro class cars on the grid for the opening 70-minute race. The Oregon Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, driven by Maximilian Paul, was the quickest of the Pro class cars.
Al Zubair took the wheel for the first stint of the race and climbed to second of the Pro runners and fifth overall after five laps. Maximilian Paul continued to lead the class by just over a second in the Huracan, while Martin Kodrić led outright in the ProAm Bonaldi Motorsport Lamborghini.
Schiller replaced Al Zubair for the second half of the race and the changeover saw the Mercedes crew temporarily drop down to fifth in the Pro class and 19th overall. When all the replacement drivers were in situ, Schiller found himself in fifth overall and third in the Pro class heading into the remaining 28 minutes of the race.
Schiller managed to find a way passed Andrzej Lewandowski in the Bonaldi Motorsport Lamborghini and climbed to fourth place. He then overtook Marco Pulcini in the AF Corse Ferrari and began to close in on Diego Manchaca and Pierre-Louis Chovet at the top of the leader board.
Schiller continued to close in on the leading duo and trailed by just 2.7 seconds with 19 minutes of the race to run. The gap was down to 0.709 seconds heading into the final quarter of an hour with the Oregon Team Lamborghini managing to hold off the Team Motopark Mercedes at the front of the field.
With eight minutes remaining, Schiller found a way passed the Team Motopark Mercedes and moved into second position behind the Oregon Team car. But the German was not to be denied and he overtook the leading car to snatch the lead in sensational style. He began to pull way from then on and reached the chequered flag 5.810 seconds ahead of his nearest rival to seal a memorable win for Al Manar Racing.
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