2 Seas take front row spot for Gulf 12 Hours

TDT | Manama                                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahraini-British motor racing team 2 Seas Motorsport qualified on the front row for this year’s Gulf 12 Hours endurance race, scheduled to take place today at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

2 Seas’ crew of Jules Gounon, Maximilan Gotz and Fabian Schiller, driving the team’s #14 Mercedes AMG-GT3 car, finished second overall as well as second in the Pro class in yesterday’s qualifying, which was held in four sessions with the average best lap time determining the grid order.

2 Seas’ other trio of His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Ian Loggie and Al Faisal Al Zubair, competing in their #3 car in the Am category, qualified 17th overall and third in class.

The two cars are set to be among a packed field of 28 GT3 challengers competing in today’s 12-hour event, which is scheduled for a 9am flag-off in Bahrain time. The podium presentation will follow at around 9.15 p.m., Bahrain, after the chequered flag comes down on the gruelling half-day challenge. Gounon-Gotz-Schiller posted an average best lap time of one minute and 51.504 seconds in yesterday’s qualifying, which was held under lights in the UAE capital.

They finished narrowly behind the #99 crew of GruppeM Racing, who clinched pole with a fastest average lap of 1:51.272. The triumvirate of HH Shaikh Isa-Loggie-Al Zubair secured their place on the grid with a best average lap time of 1:53.208.

Leaders in the Am class were Car Collection Motorsport with a lap time of 1:52.173. 2 Seas, co-owned by HH Shaikh Isa, 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 aiming for another win in the team’s season-ending race.