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Muscat: Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and Canadian team-mate Mikaël Grenier delivered a racing masterclass to stun their rivals and win the ‘GT Open 500’ spherical of the 2024 Worldwide GT Open on the demanding Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium on Sunday.
The Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 duo had certified in second place and shortly moved right into a lead they held for nearly the solely of the 2hrs 40mins race that counted for double factors in direction of the Worldwide GT Open. Regardless of lacking spherical two in Germany, the crew now high the championship standings by eight factors.
The Oregon Staff’s Jordan Pepper and Alessio Deledda reached the chequered flag in second place in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 with Comtoyou Racing’s Lorens Levertua and Matisse Lismont rounding off the rostrum locations. Al-Zubair’s Getspeed team-mates Anthony Bartone and Fabian Schiller got here residence in fifth place after 65 laps of racing.
Al-Zubair stated: “It was a fantastic race at this time. We have been very glad and couldn’t actually ask for something extra. We have been dissatisfied with qualifying on Saturday however we really selected to go on one set of recent tyres as a substitute of two, so wee saved an additional set for the race. That appeared to make a whole lot of sense. Mik received each new units and I had recent tyres. We have been proud of that by way of technique.
“It was crucial for us to get previous within the first few laps, which I managed to do on lap one. I had a great run into Eau Rouge and managed to get previous Diego Mancheca. From there, we maintained and opened a spot. However then we had the security automobile come out. That didn’t assist us by way of the hole due to the 10-second handicap within the final pit cease and the larger the hole the higher it might be for us. After the security automobile, I managed to open the hole a bit and it was a bit near the Lamborghini in the long run nevertheless it all labored out properly.
“We missed one spherical in Germany however we’re again as championship leaders. So, very proud of the weekend’s efficiency, with Mik and the entire group. The following race is the massive Spa 24. Hopefully we are able to get a win there.”
The inexperienced flag for the ‘GT Open 500’ was introduced ahead by 25 minutes and Al-Zubair lined up on the entrance row. The Omani made the right begin in dry situations and managed to get forward of Staff Motopark’s Diego Mancheca and snatch a slender lead.
Al-Zubair progressively prolonged his benefit and led the race by 2.067 seconds after 13 laps with 2hrs 08mins remaining. The primary of the necessary pit stops noticed Grenier take the new seat and the Mercedes slipped again to second place behind Tijmen van der Helm within the Automotive Assortment Motorsport Porsche however Grenier quickly regained the lead when the 911 crew pitted. Marcos Siebert moved as much as second within the Staff Motopark Mercedes.
Grenier elevated the hole to five.709 seconds with 101 minutes of the race to run and the duo held the lead by way of the second driver change with Al-Zubair retaking the wheel. With 69 minutes remaining, the Omani led by 21.992 seconds from Mancheca however the race was yellow flagged quickly afterwards and the main pack bunched up earlier than the restart.
Al-Zubair maintained his benefit and handed over to Grenier once more with the Canadian growing the duo’s result in 6.043 seconds with 22 minutes and one further lap remaining. Pepper had moved into second place with Levertua pushing the Aston Martin Vantage into third.
Grenier stored his cool over the closing laps to succeed in the chequered flag 13.035 seconds forward of Pepper to seal a memorable win for the Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed duo.
GT Open 500 motion received underway for the Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed crew with a pair of 70-minute free follow classes on Friday. The automobile ran for 19 laps within the opening session with a finest tour of 2min 36.424sec that put Al-Zubair and Grenier in eleventh place.
The AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Jean-Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald topped the occasions with Getspeed’s Antony Bartone and Fabian Schiller in second and the main Professional automobile. The Automotive Assortment Motorsport Porsche of Gustav Bergström and Nick Menzel ran out quickest of the Professional automobiles in free follow two.
Follow counted for nothing when the primary 30-minute qualifying session received underway and Al-Zubair delivered a cultured stint to hit the highest of the standings with a lap of 2min 19.401sec in cool and cloudy situations.
After pitting, the stint was red-flagged with 8min 34sec remaining: the Omani was down in sixth with Olimp Racing’s Karol Basz main the way in which. Qualifying resumed minutes later and Al-Zubair accomplished the session in ninth place with a quickest run of 2min 17.652sec and the Staff Motopark Mercedes claiming the quickest lap, courtesy of Marcos Siebert (2min 16.798sec).
Grenier took the new seat for the second qualifying session and the Canadian ran a finest lap of 2min 16.983sec to fit the Mercedes into second place behind Nico Menzel.
However the time was eclipsed within the dying seconds by the session-winning Christopher Haase within the Eastalent Racing Audi and Grenier was pushed right down to fifth. When the 2 classes have been mixed, Al-Zubair lined up on the entrance of the grid in second place behind Mancheca for the beginning of the race.
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