Sunday 17 / November / 2024
Monza: Oman’s Al Faisal Al Zubair overtook several cars to finish in an impressive 12th position in a dramatic Italian round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit in Italy on Sunday.
In a race where Australian Matt Campbell led from pole position to beat Kuwait’s Zaid Ashkanani and Italy’s Mattia Drudi, Norway’s Dennis Olsen finished fifth, secured the rookie title and moved just three points behind Michael Ammermuller in the main championship standings.
“It was a very good race for me after the disappointments at the two races in Spa last weekend,” said FZ Racing’s Al Faisal.
“I finished 12th today, but 10th in the points because two of the drivers in front of me were not registered. I also think that other drivers will get penalties.
“My teammate had an accident on the first lap and there was a lot of traffic, but I am extremely happy with this result. It shows that the potential is there. We didn’t spend too much time in the car in Monza, but I am happy with the result in general.”
Al Faisal lined up in 17th position on the starting grid with Campbell and Ashkanani on the front row and leading the other 29 entrants into the green flag at the start of the 14-lap ninth round of the series. After the deluge that washed out Saturday’s qualifying, conditions were dry for the fastest race in the championship.
Olsen attacked from the start and managed to pass Ammermuller on the opening lap, but the yellow flags were raised after an incident involving Dan Cammish, Daniele Di Amato and Dylan Pereira and the safety car was used while the stricken Porsches of Di Amato and Pereira were removed from the circuit. Al Zubair had slipped back to 20th position.
Racing resumed on lap three. Campbell, Ashkanani and Ammermuller maintained the top three places. Al Zubair managed to climb a place to 19th and the Omani overtook Tom Sharp on lap five to move up to 18th. The Lechner Racing Middle East driver was now on a charge and he passed Egidio Perfetti on lap six and moved back to 17th.
At the halfway point, after seven laps, Campbell led from Ashkanani, Olsen, Jaap Van Lagen and Robert Lukas, but Ammermuller was pushed back to 10th after an altercation with Lukas. Al-Zubair continued his charge through the field and moved into 16th position after Paul Rees returned to the pits and retired.
Campbell maintained his advantage heading into the final four laps, as Ashkanani held second and Van Lagen managed to squeeze into third place. Olsen held fifth and championship rival Ammermuller plummeted to 13th.
Igor Walilko clouted an advertising board and retired after running wide after a close battle with Ammermuller and his demise lifted Al Zubair into 14th. The yellow flag was raised again with two laps to go with Campbell leading from Ashkanani, Mattia Drudi, Van Lagen and Olsen.
Al Zubair moved up to 12th, as Campbell claimed his second win of the season and Ashkanani became the first Arab ever to claim a podium finish in second place. Drudi finished third and Olsen clinched the rookie title with fifth place.
Ammermuller finished 10th and claimed points for ninth to maintain an unofficial three-point lead in the series heading to the final two rounds in Mexico City in October.
