Motorsport: Mixed fortunes for Oman drivers as Preining wins Mobil 1 Super Cup

Sports Monday 30/July/2018 17:37 PM
By: Times News Service
Motorsport: Mixed fortunes for Oman drivers as Preining wins Mobil 1 Super Cup

MOGYOROD, Hungary: Oman’s Al Faisal Al Zubair and Khalid Al Wahaibi had mixed fortunes in the sixth round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup held at Hungaroring during the weekend.
Al Zubair of the Lechner Racing Team Middle East took the chequered flag in 12th place behind Mattia Drudi who finished ahead of the Omani driver, and picked up valuable championship points.
Al Wahaibi who started in 22nd position was involved in a collision which meant he had to return to the pit under a safety car supervision. Al Wahaibi then recovered strongly and moved from 26th to the 22nd position to complete the race.
Thomas Preining who started from pole position held off a stiff challenge from Julian Andlauer to win the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup. Zaid Ashkanani started third but dropped one place to finish fourth behind Jaap van Lagen, while Nick Yelloly and Michael Ammermüller were fifth and sixth respectively.
“It was a good race. I finished 12th. I lost two positions at the start after an incident but, after that, I just stuck to my position and I had really good pace. It’s good to be back in the points after a few weekends of bad luck. Now we have a bit of a break, but we will be testing at Spa before the next race, Al Zubair said.”
Al Wahaibi added: “I had a really good start off the line. It would have been good if we had made it through turn one, but I got hit from behind by another driver, Philipp Sager, who lost control on the straight. I spun and had to turn the car round. By that time I was too far down. I decided to finish the race. That’s why I am here. The more laps I do, the better it is. Despite the damage and the troubles with the car after the crash, I just wanted to bring it home.”
There were no changes to the running order into lap 12, but Gianmarco Quaresmini was handed a five-second time penalty, as Preining crossed the finishing line ahead of Andlauer and Van Lagen and Al Zubair finished 12th.
Action in the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup continues with the seventh round at Spa in Belgium on August 24-26.