The Drivers
Al-Faisal began racing in BRDC British F4 in 2015 and claimed one podium finish and was placed fourth in the Autumn Trophy. He went on to finish 12th in the 2016 BRDC British F3 Championship with Fortec Motorsport.
The Omani began to forge a successful early career in GT racing and, after a winter testing programme, he took part in the 2017 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, finishing fifth in the overall standings and clinching Rookie and Silver category success in his debut season in GT racing.
Bitten by the racing bug, he went on to secure back-to-back titles in the 2018 and 2019 Porsche BWT GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East with a Porsche 911 GT3 run by Austria’s Lechner Racing. Al-Zubair won 12 races over the two-year period and became the first driver to win successive titles in the championship’s 10-year history.
In addition, he competed with Lechner Racing in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Porsche Mobil Super Cups that ran in conjunction with European rounds of the FIA Formula One World Championship.
After the global travel restrictions enforced in 2020 and the early part of 2021, Al-Zubair returned to racing action to finish second in the Pro Class in the 2021 International GT Open with four race victories.
In 2022, he claimed one Silver Cup win in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and fifth place in the Hankook Dubai 24H.
He began the 2023 season in superb style by sealing back-to-back victories in the third and fourth races of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi with Luca Stolz and Martin Konrad, clinching second in the championship after finishing third and seventh in Dubai.
Al-Faisal teamed up with Fabian Schiller to tackle select rounds of the International GT Open, the pair finishing first and second at the two races in Portugal, second in Barcelona and first and third at the Hungaroring.
Al-Zubair teamed up with Fabian Schiller and Anthony Liu to drive the Al-Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes in the 2023/2024 Asian Le Mans Series. The trio finished fourth at Sepang and second in Dubai but missed out on title success after finishing 10th and eighth after a drive-through penalty at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Al-Faisal has a varied programme of select events in 2024. He teamed up with Dominik Baumann, Martin Konrad, Fabian Schiller and American racer Anthony Bartone for the Hankook Dubai 24H, but technical issues put paid to the possibility of finishing second.
He then joined forces with Mickaël Grenier to tackle select rounds of the International GT Open and with Grenier and Austrian Dominik Baumann for the opening round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup at Paul Ricard. Al-Zubair and Grenier were first and fourth in the two International GT Open races in Portugal and Baumann joined the duo to finish second in the Gold category at Paul Ricard.
Al-Zubair and Grenier then scored a memorable overall victory in the demanding GT Open 500 at Spa to lead the championship after three rounds. But the jewel in the early season crown was winning the Gold Cup category and finishing seventh overall in the flagship Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa at the end of June.
Born at Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury in Québec, Grenier cut his motor sporting teeth in the karting discipline and then moved into Formula BMW Americas in 2008 with the Apex-HBR Racing Team. He competed for Andersen Racing in the Star Mazda programme for the next couple of seasons before moving into the Indy Lights series with O2 Racing Technology and Team Moore Racing.
A season with Tsunami Racing followed in Porsche Carrera Cup Italia in 2016 and preceded a move into the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe and the International GT Open with Antonelli Motorsport and the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and Intercontinental GT Challenge with Attempto Racing.
He then joined forces with Emil Frey Jaguar Racing and SunEnergy 1 Racing for three seasons and finished second in the International GT Open with Emil Frey Racing in the 2019 International GT Open.
Hectic racing schedules followed for the next three seasons with several teams across DTM, GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, Intercontinental GT Challenge, the IMSA SportsCar Championship and select races – the highlight being second place at the 2023 24 Hours of Nürburgring – SP-X with Schnitzelalm Racing. He also competed for Team GruppeM Racing in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 and won the Gulf 12 Hours with Maro Engel and Luca Stolz.
In 2024, he is tackling select rounds of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and the International GT Open with Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and the Al-Manar Racing by GetSpeed team. Grenier and Al-Zubair finished first and fourth in the two International GT Open races in Portugal and Dominik Baumann joined the duo to finish second in the Gold category at the opening Fanatec race Paul Ricard.
Al-Zubair and Grenier then secured a memorable victory in the GT Open 500 at Spa to lead the International GT Open series after three rounds. Grenier was also a member of the four-man Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed Team that won the Gold category in the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa.
Baumann hails from the Tirol and has achieved significant success across a wide range of sports car disciplines. He started out on the German karting scene and graduated to the 100 Junior class and the ICA Junior category. Baumann moved on to compete in the ADAC Formel Masters in 2009 and 2010, the 2010 Mini Challenge Germany and the FIA GT3 European Championship with Heico Motorsport.
He moved into the International GT Open and Blancpain GT Endurance Series and has tackled over 320 races worldwide and won the FIA GT3 European Championship in a Mercedes as far back as 2012. He became the first Blancpain GT Series champion in 2016 during a long and successful association with HTP Winward Motorsport.
Baumann joined forces with Mickaël Grenier and Al-Faisal Al-Zubair to finish second in the Gold category at the opening Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup race at Paul Ricard this year. He then went one better to win the Gold category at the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in late June.
Born in Bonn, Schiller began his career in the ADAC Kart Masters series at the age of 12. He then switched his allegiance to single-seater formula cars and competed in the Formula BMW Talent Cup and the ADAC Formel Masters Championship.
After two seasons and three race wins, he graduated to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Team West-Tec. He went on to join the Marc VDS Racing team in 2016 and tackled the Renault Sport Trophy, winning both the individual AM class and the Endurance Trophy with co-driver Markus Palttala.
Schiller then switched to the Asian Le Mans Series and finished fourth in the points with Race Performance in the LMP2 class. He also raced in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup and won the 2017 Silver Cup title with Jules Szymkowiak.
He made his debut in the IMSA SportsCar Championship at Daytona in 2019 and then embarked upon a race programmes in the ADAC GT Masters and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, the latter seeing him team up with Al-Zubair and Jefferies under the Al-Manar Racing by HRT banner to finish fourth in the class championship.
In 2023, Schiller teamed up with Al-Zubair to win two rounds of the International GT Open in Portugal and Hungary and also earn a pair of second-place finishes in Barcelona and Portugal and a third in Hungary.
He also tackled the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup with Luca Stolz and Maro Engel in the Al-Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes. The trio finished second at Paul Ricard, ninth at Spa, second at the Nürburgring and fourth in the Barcelona 3H after a time penalty cost them a potential win.
Luca began his career competing in the Cadet class of the Belgian Karting Championship in 2007 and continued to race karts until 2010.
He switched to single-seater racing in 2011 and made his debut on the ADAC Formel Masters, finishing 12th in the title race. He graduated to the German F3 Championship and then began sports car racing with Land Motorsport in the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany.
His debut in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup came in 2014 and, despite missing several races, he finished fourth in the Silver Cup with HTP Motorsport. Luca joined the Lamborghini GT3 Junior Program in 2016 and tackled the GT World Challenge Europe series with GRT Grasser Racing Team. He teamed up with Michele Beretta to win the Silver Cup with four class wins.
He went on to win the 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup title with the Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon and then competed with Haupt Racing in 2020 and Toksport WRT in 2021.
In 2022, he took part in the DTM with the Haupt Racing Team and claimed a first win at the Nürburgring. He also claimed a win at the Bathurst 12 Hour in Australia with Kenny Habul, Martin Konrad and Jules Gounon and repeated the feat this year with Habul and Gounon.
In 2023, he teamed up with Fabian Schiller and Maro Engel to drive the Al-Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes on rounds of the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup. The trio secured
a pair of second places at Paul Ricard and the Nürburgring, fourth after a time penalty in Spain and ninth at Spa. He also won the Gulf 12 Hours with Engel and Mickaël Grenier.
Born in Munich and based in Monaco, the experienced Engel is a long-time Mercedes-AMG factory driver, FIA GT World Cup champion, DTM race winner, Nürburgring 24-hour winner and Macau GT Cup winner and
previously raced V8 supercars, F3000, F3 and DTM.
He began his career karting in Germany and France between 1996 and 1999 and went on to finish fourth in the 2000 European Junior Karting Championship, before switching to Formula BMW.
Formula 3 took his attention from 2003 to 2007 and he raced as a factory Opel driver in the Recaro F3 Cup and then in Italian Formula 3000. In 2007, he signed an agreement to become a Mercedes junior driver with Carlin Motorsport and then moved into the DTM series for several seasons.
He made his V8 Supercars debut in 2013 and also competed in the Macau Grand Prix GT Cup, where he claimed a lap record and pole position in a Mercedes SLS AMG GT3.
His GT racing career continued to flourish throughout 2014 and we went on to win the 2014 Macau Grand Prix GT Cup, before joining the Black Falcon team to compete in the Pro-Am class of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. He won again as part of the Mercedes AMG Driving Academy team in Macau in 2015 to be crowned the inaugural FIA GT World Cup champion.
In 2016, he raced in the IMSA series in the LMPC class and won the Nürburgring 24 Hours with the AMG Team Black Falcon, before making his Formula E debut. He also raced a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the FIA
Formula E Championship.
In 2023, he teamed up with Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz to drive the Al-Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup. The team secured a pair of second places in France and Germany, fourth after a time penalty cost them the win in Spain and ninth in the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium. Engel also won the Gulf 12 Hours with Mickaël Grenier and Luca Stolz in a Team GruppeM Racing Mercedes.
Liu is one of the most experienced racers ever to come out of Asia and has an impressive curriculum vitae across a wide range of racing disciplines. He has raced Ferraris, Audis, Lamborghini and Porsche and, lamerly, Mercedes.
In recent seasons, Liu has been a regular face in Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia and Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia circles with the likes of Absolute Racing and JRM at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 R Type 992 or 991. He clinched the 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS drivers’ championship and Pro-Am crown with Cra]-Bamboo Racing.
Liu joined forces with Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and Fabian Schiller to drive the Al-Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the 2023/2024 Asian Le Mans Series. The trio finished fourth at Sepang and second in Dubai but missed out on :tle success a]er placing 10th and eighth a]er a drive-through penalty at the Abu Dhabi finale.
Konrad lives in Vöcklabruck and began his racing career late in life in 2006. He initially competed in the Recaro F3 Cup before switching to endurance racing several years ago.
Martin claimed one win in the 24 Hour series in 2015-2016 and two victories in the International GT Open series in 2017. He finished third in the Pro-Am class at Spa in 2018 and fourth in the amateur class of International GT Open after taking a pair of wins.
He won his class in the 2019 Dubai 24 Hours and was third amateur in GT Open in 2019 with six wins during the course of the season.
He competed in the 24 Hour series and the Intercontinental GT Challenge in 2020 and 2021 and secured victory at the Mugello 12 Hours in 2022, in addition to finishing as second amateur in the International GT Open and winning the GT3 Pro-Am class at the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in Australia.
Konrad teamed up with Al-Zubair and Stolz to compete in the Asian Le Mans Series at the start of 2023 and the trio finished second in the championship after following up third and seventh-placed finishes in Dubai with back-to-back GT Class wins in Abu Dhabi.
Axcil began his motorsport career at the turn of the century and, like many budding racing drivers, he cut his teeth in the karting discipline from the age of six. He won several national championships in Zimbabwe and South Africa before moving to Europe. In 2007 and 2008, he won races in the European Karting Championship.
After two seasons in the Formula BMW Pacific series – where he finishes third in 2009 – he switched to the F2 Championship in 2012 with a best finish being fifth at Spa in Belgium. Axcil made his debut in the American Firestone Indy Lights programme in 2013 and finished seventh on his debut.
He made his first appearance in GP2 in Bahrain in 2014 before switching to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East to claim the title at his first attempt – a title he would retain in 2018. He then turned his attention to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe, winning on his debut at Monza on his way to the runner-up spot in the championship and second place in the World Finals.
His endurance GT racing debut came at Paul Ricard in 2017 and he quickly became established on the scene. He finished second in the Pro-Am class with Martin Konrad in a Toksport WRT Mercedes at the 2020 Dubai 24-hour race and won the event the following year with GPX Racing in a shared Porsche 911 GT3-R.
Axcil was triumphant in Dubai again in 2022 at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS run by MS7 by WRT.
He also competes in the Nürburgring Endurance Series and holds the GT3 class lap record for the famous German circuit with a time of 7min 50.370sec set in 2022 in a Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
He made his debut in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint series in 2020 with Madpanda Motorsport before joining forces with AlManar Racing.
Lucas Auer was born in the Austrian Tyrol and is the nephew of former Austrian Formula One racing legend Gerhard Berger. His mother Claudia runs a transport company in Wörgl close to Berger’s own family business.
The winner of the 2011 JK Racing Asia Series at the age of just 17, Auer went on to test a F3 Euro series car at Valencia under the watchful eye of his esteemed uncle.
A year later, Auer won the Lausitzring round of the German F3 Championship and went on to finish second in the championship. He continued to race in the FIA Formula 3 series for the next two seasons and also tackled a round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The Austrian then spent four seasons with Mercedes in the DTM series, in addition to becoming a test driver for the Sahara Force India F1 Team in 2017. He finished sixth in the DTM series in 2017 and seventh the following season, as well as competing with Strakka Racing in the Blancpain European GT Series and with the Drivex School operation in the International GT Open.
A varied 2019 programme saw Auer involved in Super Formula, the Toyota Racing Series, ADAC GT Masters, Blancpain GT and the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the highlight being third overall in the Toyota series.
A limited season of DTM racing followed in 2020, before he finished fifth with Mercedes in DTM in 2021 and tackled the GT World Challenge and Intercontinental GT Challenge with the AKKA ASP Mercedes Team.
The runner-up spot followed in DTM with Mercedes-AMG Team Winward in 2022 and Auer also competed that year in the GT World Challenge and the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Winward Racing and the Intercontinental GT Challenge as a member of GruppeM Racing.
In 2023, he continued to compete with Winward Racing in the DTM and IMSA series but joined Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed in the GT World Challenge Europe and Intercontinental GT Challenge.Auer joined forces with Luca Stolz and Fabian Schiller to finish ninth in the Pro Cup category with Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed at the 2023 Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa.
For 2024, Auer has continued a hectic programme of racing in DTM and the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup with Winward Racing and select other races with Team Getspeed.
Born in Munich, Ellis hit the spotlight back in 2011 when he won the Formula Lista Junior title, a championship that grouped together Formula BMWs with the GU-Racing team. He graduated to the Formula 3 Euro Series the following season, in addition to taking part in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with GU-Racing.
Ellis moved on to saloon car racing and successfully tackled the 2017 Audi Sport TT Cup in a winning season. After a couple of years in the ADAC GT Masters and select races, he took part in the DTM series in Germany alongside Lucas Auer in 2021 with HTP Winward Motorsport and also competed in the Silver Cup category of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, in addition to finishing first overall at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Space Drive Racing.
A hectic programme of events across GT World Challenge America, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, the International GT Challenge and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup followed in 2022 and 2023.
He began the 2024 season with Winward Racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and has planned programmes in GT World Challenge America, the Intercontinental GT Challenge and with Al-Manar Racing by GetSpeed. Ellis’s first appearance with the Al-Manar Racing by Getspeed Team was a memorable one and he joined forces to win the Gold Cup category and finish seventh overall in the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa.
