Al-Manar Racing By Team WRT Strikes Gold At Legendary Nürburgring

NÜRBURGRING: At the penultimate round, Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al-Faisal Al-Zubair, Jens Klingmann, and Ben Tuck claimed overall victory in the Gold Cup class. On Sunday, the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS will be held at the Nürburgring in Germany.

Their BMW M4 GT3 EVO's impressive performance solidifies the team's hold on second place in both the Endurance Cup's Teams' and Drivers' Championships. and it means that the title winner will be determined in the final round in Barcelona in October.

Initially, it appeared that Chris Lulham, Thierry Vermeulen, and Harry King had won the Gold Cup, ensuring that the Verstappen. com Racing Aston Martin The team had already clinched the endurance championship with one race to spare. But they were assessed a 10-second penalty after the race, dropping them to third place behind the CSA Racing McLaren.

Al-Zubair said he was pleased with the weekend performance. We got off to a terrific start in free practice. BMW has been quite optimistic this weekend. In previous years, we have seen the BMW competing with other manufacturers such as Ferrari and Mercedes. To win this weekend is something to be really proud of.

"To get away with this result at such a renowned circuit as the Nürburgring is really gratifying for us as a team and as a manufacturer. It demonstrates that we are capable of achieving remarkable feats together. " This is my first individual victory here. I am overjoyed and hope to continue this momentum into the final two races. "

At the start of the Gold Cup race, the Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW lined up second, trailing the Garage 59 McLaren. Three-hour endurance race on the 5.1km GPStrecke circuit.

AlZubair gave up his spot to Vermeulen in the Verstappen. com Racing Aston Martin early in the stint, but a yellow flag prompted a temporary break. For the rest of the first stint, the Omani followed the Aston Martin in third place, with Adam Smalley leading the Garage 59 McLaren. The Tresor Attempto Racing Audi withdrew after only five laps.

Al-Zubair handed over to Tuck for the second stint, but Vermeulen remained out right until the conclusion of the one-hour opening session before moving into Before any changeovers occurred, the Gold Cup lead was maintained.

Chris Lulham maintained the lead for the Verstappen. com team over Louis Prette after the nine Gold Cup driver changes occurred following 32 laps. In Garage 59, the McLaren and the BMW are owned by Team WRT. Tuck passed Prette and finished second. Prette retired his Garage 59 McLaren after 45 laps.

Another full course yellow halted the activity around the two-hour point, as did the final driver change, which saw Klingmann take Tuck's position in the AlManar Raving from Team WRT BMW. The German held second position behind Harry King heading into the final 57 minutes, with activity resuming after 62 laps and 45 minutes remaining.

There were no late surprises, and Klingmann drove the BMW to the finish, trailing the Aston Martin to secure second place for AlManar Racing by Team WRT. The CSA Racing McLaren crew finished the podium finishers, falling behind AlManar Racing in the race for second place in both the Teams' and Drivers' Championships.

But then Verstappen. com's ten-second penalty was given to the car, bringing the Endurance Championship decision down to the final round in October.

The Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW performed admirably in the initial tests, providing a useful shakedown ahead of Saturday morning's free practice session.

The car was quick again during the free practice stint, with a fastest lap of 1min 55.297sec as the reward. The Herberth Motorsport Porsche had the second fastest time of the 61 automobiles competing. The crew was the fastest of all the Gold Cup competitors in prequalifying, with the fourth quickest time of 1min 55.189sec.

Qualifying was divided into three sessions, with the AlManar Racing by Team WRT car placing fifth among the Gold Cup participants in Q1, second in Q2, and seventh in Q3. The Garage 59 McLaren of Adam Smalley, Louis Prette, and Dean Macdonald won pole position after a combined time of three laps. The Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW qualified second, ahead of the Optimum Motorsport McLaren.

The squad returns to competition for the final round of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup in Valencia from September 19th through 21st.

2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

TEAMS – latest Gold Cup standings

1. Verstappen.com Racing 106pts

2. Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT 94pts

3. CSA Racing 84pts

4. Team RJN 36pts

5. Optimum Motorsport 36pts

6. Garage 59 34pts

7. Herberth Motorsport 33pts

8. Paul Motorsport 33pts

9. Tresor Attempto Racing 29pts