Friday 15 / November / 2024
Muscat: It was a debut to cherish and celebrate for Oman’s talented driver Al Faisal Al Zubair as he along with Martin Kodric claimed a Silver Cup class podium finish and an overall fourth spot in the highly-competitive final round of the 2020 British GT Championship at the Silverstone circuit in UK on Sunday.
The 22-year-old two-time former Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East winner displayed no signs of rustiness despite the fact that he was returning to the circuit after a gap of nearly ten months.
Racing for 2 Seas Motorsport in a McLaren 720S GT3 car, Al Faisal and Croatia’s Kodric displayed their mettle with a P4 in the overall GT3 standings and notching up a third-place in their Silver Cup class among a grid of 30 cars.
Barwell Motorsport finally took their first British GT title as Sandy Mitchell and Rob Collard‘s victory at the Silverstone 500 was enough to claim the crown.
The race featured some of the best drivers and also included former Formula One champion Jenson Button.
Button, the 2009 F1 champion had a frustrating race, in the Jenson Team Rocket RJN McLaren he shared with Chris Buncombe and they eventually finished 14th.
Al Faisal and Kodric were the third entry from 2 Seas Motorsport in the race and the other two teams from the same stables finished fifth and 12th positions.
Al Faisal began the race at P11 after the two qualifying sessions saw him and Kordic end up P5 and P14 in the first and second qualifying sessions.
Taking on the wheel for the first stint of the three-hour race, Al Faisal soon moved to P8 and came up with a superb control to climb up to P4 before making the pit stop for Kodric to take over.
A slight delay during the pit stop pushed the advantage back and Kodric had to resume at P15. The Croatian got the team back to tenth before Al Faisal took over and reached P6 with an hour to go.
In the final session, Kodric managed a P4 and ensured they keep the place till the finish line to spark joy in the team as 2 Seas Motorsport ended with a third-place in the teams’ standings in the Silver Cup class.
The podium finish was ensured with 2 Seas Motorsport other team of Angus Fender and Dean Macdonald coming fifth and the duo of Jordan Witt and Jack Mitchell at 12th.
Later speaking after the P4 overall finish, Al Faisal said, “It was a great run with Martin on my debut at the championship. Very happy to have ensured my team [2 Seas Motorsport] a third place in the Silver Cup class and finishing overall fourth is something I am proud of as the race featured quite experienced drivers and former champions. It was a tough race and I am happy to have made my return in such a competition.”
The Omani added, “Despite the lack of preparations, we were close to an overall third but a glitch during a pit stop hit us hard. However, my team is satisfied with the result and that was my primary goal.
“I have definitely gained a lot with this participation not just with confidence getting a boost but also the experience to race in one of the top championships. It will be of great help when I begin my new season.”
