Podium Run “Good Start” to Al Manar’s Ferrari Chapter

Al Faisal Al Zubair described Al Manar Racing’s run to second place in the Gulf 12 Hours in its first race with Ferrari as a “good start” to the partnership, although he admitted the result was “bittersweet” after losing victory due to a brake fluid issue.

Al Zubair, Ben Tuck and Chris Froggatt finished over a minute and a half behind the winning CapitalRT by Motopark crew in Sunday’s 15th running of the Abu Dhabi enduro in the Dragon Racing-run No. 77 Ferrari 296 GT3.

The result came at the end of Al Manar’s debut race with Ferrari, switching brands after a season of racing the BMW M4 GT3 EVO across multiple championships.

Although Al Zubair admitted that missing out on victory was “a bit bittersweet,” he noted that second place was a good result to kick off the team’s new chapter with the Prancing Horse.

“My first time driving the Ferrari was on Friday, so looking at it from that aspect, it’s definitely a good result,” Al Zubair told Sportscar365.

“Just a bit bittersweet knowing that we were fighting for the win.

“Sorry also to Winward for what happened to them. It was looking like a good fight to the end, but yeah, it’s a good start and looking forward to the next few races.”

The No. 77 Ferrari controlled the race at the end of the opening eight-hour segment and thus started the second part of the race from pole.

The team then looked on course for victory even as a drivethrough penalty was offset by a suspension issue for the No. 81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, only for the No. 77 crew to then encounter its own problems.

“I think we had the leak in the brake fluid so we had to change the calipers, unfortunately,” said Al Zubair.

Al Zubair’s switch to the mid-engined Ferrari comes after years of racing front-engined Mercedes-AMG and BMW machinery, although he credited his previous experience in Porsche Carrera Cup machinery with speeding up his adaptation process.

“This is quite sharp, so you need to get used to a bit more aero feel,” he said.

“Really sharp on the slow speed corners, being a bit smoother there. But I got to grips quicker than I thought.

“It was a solid weekend, honestly. Ben and Chris did an amazing job the whole weekend and I can’t complain about about  this start.”

Barnicoat Explains Optimum Driver Strategy in Second Segment

The second portion of the race was characterized by setbacks for almost all front-running cars, with the exception of the No. 13 CapitalRT by Motopark Mercedes-AMG that eventually broke through to win the race.

The No. 69 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo briefly led in the hands of Ben Barnicoat, but the team then installed Bronze-rated Todd Coleman for the closing stint.

A puncture derailed Coleman’s possible podium run, being caught by Grove Racing by GetSpeed’s Jules Gounon and eventually finishing fourth.

After the race, Barnicoat explained that it was not Optimum’s original strategy to have Coleman complete the final stint against the faster Pro drivers, but that the team seeking to retain its lead lap position resulted in it giving Barnicoat an impromptu second stint.

“It wasn’t the goal to have Todd in until the end,” Barnicoat told Sportscar365.

“Obviously, we ended the first race a lap down, which got unlucky with some safety cars.

“And then, obviously, I had some contacts and a puncture so starting me was the goal to get back on the lead lap.

“But then to be honest, because the pace of the other bronzes like Froggatt and [Salikhov] was so strong that we were only just on the lead lap.

“We weren’t sort of safely on the lead lap, but only by ten to 20 seconds.

“So the decision to put me back in was to get us a bit more on the lead lap so that then if there was a safety car heading into that final hour, Todd would have had a minute and a half to the people who weren’t on the lead lap.

“Whereas if if you put Todd in the stint where I was in the car, we’re gonna go a lap back down kind of straight away.”