MEDIA INFORMATION
INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN – Misano, June 5th-7th, 2026
For immediate release
Thursday, June 4th, 2026
OMAN’S AL-ZUBAIR RETURNS WITH AL-MANAR BY DRAGON RACING AT MISANO
MISANO (ITALY): Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair returns from injury to take part in this weekend’s second sprint round of the International GT Open at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.
The Al-Manar by Dragon Racing star has been out of action since his non-finish while chasing a podium at the Michelin 24H Dubai 2026 in mid-January. But the Omani is raring to go, as he teams up with 34-year-old Italian racer David Fuminelli at the helm of a Ferrari 296 GT3 run by Dubai-based Dragon Racing.
Al-Manar Racing has already secured nine victories in the International GT Open, although Al-Zubair will only tackle three rounds this season: Misano, Paul Ricard in mid-July and Monza in late September.
Al-Zubair said: “I am very excited to be back in the car. It has been five months since my last race. I don’t remember the last time I had a break out of the car for this long. For sure, it will not be an easy one, especially with the Ferrari being a relatively new car for me. It will just the third time that I am in and the first time in Europe.
“I am looking forward to teaming up with David Fuminelli in the Dragon Racing 296 GT3. I think we have a strong package and we can fight for podiums and, hopefully, a race win as well. I hope we can have a strong comeback to the racing scene and carry on with the momentum we had last year in the upcoming few races.”
Al-Zubair’s new team-mate Fuminelli cut his motor sporting teeth in national karting and then graduated to single-seater racing in 2008. After a stint in Formula Three, he moved into the GP3 Series before switching to the GT discipline in 2014.
He has raced for Kessel Racing in recent seasons in the International GT Open and Asian Le Mans Series and continues to work with the team in GT World Challenge Europe. At the start of 2026, Fuminelli also joined forces with Inception Racing to take part in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
The famous 4.226km Italian track is located close to the town of Misano Adriatico in Italy’s Rimini province abnd will host the International GT Open for the first time. It was renamed to commemorate the late MotoGP star Marco Simoncelli in 2012. Misano was originally designed in 1969, but the track length was increased in 1993 and it began hosting the San Marino round of the MotoGP World Championship in 2007.
The International GT Open shares the circuit this weekend with entrants in GT Cup Europe, SuperSport GT and Euroformula Open.
The first of the one-hour International GT Open practice sessions is scheduled for 11.15hrs on Friday (June 5th) with free practice session two getting underway from 15.40hrs.
First qualifying will run for 25 minutes from 10.25hrs on Saturday (June 6th) and precedes the opening 70-minute race, firing into life with a rolling start at 15.05hrs.
Driver two qualifying takes centre stage from 09.30hrs on Sunday (June 7th) and the second one-hour race gets the green light at 14.15hrs.
Ends