Al-Zubair looks to wrap up Mobil 1 Super Cup campaign with top finish in Mexico

Mexico City: After a break of over six weeks since the last Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup race at Monza, the series concludes with a double-header in Mexico City this weekend.

Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair has enjoyed his most successful season to date, winning a second successive Porsche BWT GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East title before finishing inside the top 10 on several occasions on his way to 12th position thus far in the 2019 Drivers’ Championship.

The BWT Lechner Racing Team driver missed the Mexican races last season to concentrate on his preparations for a regional racing programme. Before setting off for North America, he said: “The Super Cup is coming to a close and we have one more round in Mexico with two races. It will certainly be interesting. I’m looking forward to it because it is a track I like. Hopefully I can deliver a strong performance and finish off with some points. Then we will announce what we will be doing in the future.”

While Al-Zubair looks to finish the season on a high note, his team-mate and defending champion Michael Ammermüller will be looking to seal the title yet again.

He arrives in the hustle and bustle of Mexico City defending a 14-point lead over Dutchman Larry Ten Voorde after Frenchman Julien Andlauer failed to finish the Monza race and slipped 18 points behind his German title rival. Turkey’s Ayhancan Güven is four points further behind in fourth place and Florian Latorre rounds off the top five.

The weekend’s racing action is being held in conjunction with the Formula One Mexican Grand Prix on the 4.304km Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues circuit. The weekend marks the third successive occasion that the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup has reached its conclusion in Mexico and the fifth time that the series has visited the city.

The Porsche series’ lap record on the circuit is held by Thomas Preining, a lap of 1min 43.593sec set in October last year. Andlauer won both the races in 2018 and will need to do the same if he is to seriously push Ammermüller for the title.

The German claimed pole position for both races in 2018, so the scene is set for an absorbing contest.

Teams will be permitted a 45-minute practice session from 16.00hrs (local time) on Friday afternoon. Qualifying will take place in a 30-minute slot from 11.00hrs on Saturday morning and the first 16-lap race fires into life at 14.30hrs.

The final Porsche race of the season is scheduled for 10.15hrs on Sunday (October 27th) morning.