Bahrain’s 2 Seas set for Gulf test

TDT | Manama                                                   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahraini-British motor racing team 2 Seas Motorsport confirmed yesterday their two-car entry for the upcoming Gulf 12 Hours endurance race, set to take place at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi from 8 to 10 December.

2 Seas, co-owned by His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, are the reigning GT3 Teams’ Champions of the British GT Championship, and they will be hoping to carry over that success to the region.

2 Seas have won two of the last three editions of the Gulf 12 Hours, and are once again amongst the favourites to challenge for the victory.

The event will be their curtain-closing race of the year.

2 Seas also unveiled yesterday special liveries for their two Mercedes-AMG GT3s, as they look to take the fight with competitive line-ups confirmed for the final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC).

Running as Mercedes-AMG Team 2 Seas, the #14 Pro entry will see Jules Gounon back with the team, and he currently leads the IGTC standings.

The Andorran driver is joined by Maximilian Gotz and Fabian Schiller, as the all-AMG Performance Driver line-up look to fight for overall victory.

Gounon’s race results speak for themselves, having claimed a third Bathurst 12 Hours victory, Daytona 24 Hours honours, and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup title, just this year.

2021 DTM champion Gotz has scored multiple podiums and race wins at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3.

This season has seen the experienced driver take a pair of top-three ADAC GT Masters results, as well as narrowly missing an overall podium finish at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, finishing fourth together with Schiller.

Completing the line-up, Schiller has raced across Europe and Asia this season, kicking off the year with third place in the final GT standings of the Asian Le Mans Series, before securing two wins and three podium finishes in International GT Open, with a further victory and podium in GT World Challenge Asia.

Meanwhile, the #3 car sees HH Shaikh Isa alongside Gounon’s British GT co-driver, Ian Loggie, with Al Faisal Al Zubair of Oman completing the trio.

HH Shaikh Isa returns to the event as a double race winner, with his first and only race activity of the 2023 season.

Loggie continues with the team, having taken a race win, two podiums, and a pole position on his way to helping to secure the British GT teams’ championship, and fifth in the drivers’ standings.

Al Zubair returns to 2 Seas, having made a one-off British GT entry with the team in 2020.

He is also no stranger to the Gulf 12 Hours or the Mercedes-AMG GT3, and will make his third appearance at the final endurance event of the season, having secured two International GT Open wins and three further podiums alongside Schiller earlier this year.