��������Ƶ

Jeddah: The Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS is set to stage the final round of the 2024 campaign at the world’s fastest street circuit, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

The global benchmark for GT3 racing is scheduled for Nov. 29-30.

The new addition to the Saudi Motorsport Company 2024 calendar will feature participants competing in the GT World Challenge Europe in a thrilling 1,000 km contest. Simultaneously, participants in the GT4 European Series will also engage in their customary format, with two one-hour races on the same circuit.

The event is set to launch a new long-term partnership between ��������Ƶ and SRO Motorsports Group, which will likely expand over the coming seasons.

Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al Abdullah Al-Faisal, chairman of the Saudi Motorsport Company and the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, said: “The arrival of two more exhilarating world-class racing series in ��������Ƶ from 2024 confirms the scale of the Kingdom’s transformation into the new hotbed of motorsport in the region. In doing so, we continue to accelerate the pace of progress we see through hosting these major events. We look forward to working with SRO Motorsports and continuing to provide more opportunities to enrich the lives of all our residents.”

The Saudi Motorsport Company on Monday officially launched ticket sales for the Jeddah GT Race 2024, set to take place in Jeddah.

The Jeddah GT Race 2024 has a variety of ticket options, including GT general admission, general child admission, and VIP tickets, available as single-day or two-day passes. Early-bird tickets offer discounts for a limited time.

BAKU: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole for the fourth consecutive year at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
As title challenger Lando Norris of McLaren qualified only 17th, the Monegasque driver, who won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his last outing, continued his supreme single lap form to wind up three-tenths of a second ahead of Piastri.
It was the 26th pole of his career at a track where he has yet to win.
Carlos Sainz was third in the second Ferrari and Sergio Perez fourth for Red Bull ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.
Three-time world champion and series leader Max Verstappen was sixth in the second Red Bull as his recent struggles continued.
Verstappen leads Norris by 62 points in the title race with eight races of the season remaining.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh for Mercedes ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Argentine new boy Franco Colapinto of Williams and his team-mate Alex Albon.
“It’s one of my favorite tracks of the season,” said Leclerc.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend for me with the crash in first practice and then a problem in second practice with a new part.
“I wasnt worried, but the pace was already there and in my last lap I went for it a bit more. It is amazing to be on pole again!“
The session began in slanting sunshine across the old city by the Caspian Sea, the Mercedes duo quick to enter the fray on medium tires for two exploratory laps of the slippery street track.
As the conditions improved, Leclerc produced a lap in 1:42.775 to go top while Mercedes switched to softs, Russell swiftly jumping to second and Hamilton to fourth.
But in a final scrabble for places, as Piastri went third behind Leclerc and Albon, Norris pitted and missed the cut, eliminated in 17th place ahead of only the Saubers and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. RB’s Daniel Ricciardo was also out.
It was Norris’s first Q1 elimination since the Las Vegas race last year (2023).
“The lap was good enough, but it was a yellow flag so I had to back off,” said Norris.
Q2 saw Verstappen on top ahead of Leclerc with Perez and Sainz third and fourth.
After a final flurry, Alonso rose to fifth and Colapinto to sixth while Albon hung on to 10th to push Bearman out in 11th along with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
The top-ten shootout began with Leclerc, in 1:46.610, on top ahead of Sainz after an early lap by Russell.
As the final laps began, Albon left the pits with an airbox fan still attached to his Williams car. He pulled it off and threw it to a marshal.
This bizarre incident did not distract Ferrari or Leclerc, however, as he reeled off 1:43.365 to grab his fourth consecutive Baku pole.