PODIUM FINISH DELIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP RUNNER UP IN GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE FINALE!
The 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Championship came to a thrilling close in Barcelona at the beginning of October, where Ben Tuck and his teammates Al Faisal Al Zubair and Jens Klingmann drove a superb race to the podium to take second spot in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Gold Cup for 2025. Across three tense hours the championship contenders took the battle right to the line, as the crew of the #777 Al Manar Racing BMW raced from 17th overall on the grid to second overall by the finish, a standout performance that underlined the pace and consistency that the trio have shown all season.
For Al Faisal Al Zubair, Jens Klingmann and Ben Tuck it was a season of strong consistency and strategic execution in arguably the most competitive GT3 series in Europe. Not only did their impressive performance clinch a spot on the overall podium from a field of 60 cars, and the podium in the Gold Class, but it also delivered the combined 2025 Gold Cup Team Championship Title to Al Manar Racing by WRT.
Over their 2025 campaign, the crew of the #777 car have enjoyed multiple strong performances together, including overall victory at the Dubai 24hrs in the Middle East Trophy, followed by two Gold class wins in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at Monza and Nurburgring and a fifth place finish at the biggest GT race in the world, the 24hrs of Spa. Therefore, they looked towards the season finale in Barcelona with confidence.
In qualifying, the crews combined times produced an average good enough for 17th overall and fifth in the Gold Class. Al Faisal Al Zubair started the race and safely tackled the inevitable early Full Course Yellow periods returning the car in a perfectly timed pitstop during a Safety Car period for the first driver change, where Ben Tuck took the wheel.
Tuck put in an impressive stint once the race returned to green flag racing as he worked his way past the faster Pro Class cars climbing from seventh to second overall whilst maintaining second in the Gold class.
With the final driver change to Jens Klingmann, the team focused on maintaining their rhythm. A late Safety Car compressed the field, but Klingmann executed the restart cleanly, and he held position to bring the car home in second overall and in the Gold class.
The crew and team were jubilant: Al Faisal Al Zubair: “An amazing day! Our first ever overall podium in GT World Endurance! To wrap up the final round with P2 overall, and second in class, is just incredible. I’m extremely happy and proud of what we’ve achieved! Massive thanks to my team for the mega job all season long, and to my teammates for their great work.”
Jens Klingmann: “What an incredible race! We didn’t feel like we had the fastest car, so we focused on long-run performance with the set-up… For me, it got tight at the end due to the last safety car, but I’m super happy with second place and winning the teams’ overall title in the Gold Cup.”
Ben Tuck: “Going into the weekend, when we saw the timings in practice, we knew it could be a tough one. In the race, thanks to an amazing strategy and a great long run pace, we turned things around. Finishing P2 overall and in Gold Cup is just incredible. A huge thank you to my crew for their fantastic work. I’m super proud and happy to be part of this team!”
Ben next races in the season finale of the European Le Mans Series in Portimão on 18th October 2025.
