Click on banner above to obtain printable family invite to the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai

14 January 2010
Thursday Practice, Qualifying & Night Practice: Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai
Porsches dominate night practice as UAE teams come good in the darkness

Night practice is a vital aspect of 24 hours endurance racing and if session in darkness this evening at Dubai Autodrome is anything to go by then Porsche teams, including last years winning outfit Land Motorsport, are looking potent. The Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai, which is being held under the patronage of His Highness Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, will be run for at least 12 hours of darkness.

The Imsa Performance Matmut Porsche, which hours earlier qualified in pole position for the race, again topped the timing sheets by over two seconds and go into the race as favourites. However last year’s winners Land Motorsport 1 and Land Motorsport 2 Porsches were next up, in second and third respectively, and showed their intent namely to repeat their 2009 victory. De Lorenzi Racing Porsche was fourth quickest in the night, making it a Porsche 1-2-3-4 and sending out an ominous warning to the likes of Ferrari, Aston Martin, Moser and BMW.

Big news for local fans was the strong performance by UAE based teams particularly the Al Qasba Lap 57 UAE Team Honda of Omran and Mohammed Al Owais, Umair Khan and Saeed Al Mehairi who were quickest in Class A2. The team had problems in qualifying which forced them to change a gearbox in one hour. A couple of hours later an Al Mehairi went out for the first time and set the fastest lap time in the class. The young Emirati HSBC Racing Academy graduate said, “I am very happy and proud. Our team did a great job and we are really fired up for a good result.”

The second fastest Class A2 car was the UAE based Duel Racing Renault Clio with the Moutran brothers Ramzi, Sami and Nabil partnered with Bahrain’s Sheikh Slaman Al Khalifa.

DXB Racing Aston Martin recovered from a modest qualifying performance to set the fourth fastest night time lap in the SP3 Class ahead of local rivals AUH Racing Aston Martin.

The Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai starts tomorrow (Friday) 15 January at 2 pm and finishes 24 hours later. Entry to the event is free with invitations available for download http://www.dubaiautodrome.com

Click here for Night Practice Results

Qualifying for the Dunlop Dubai 24 Hours of Dubai took place today at Dubai Autodrome and the Imsa Performance Matmut Porsche took pole position in an action packed session. 72 of 78 entered cars set times for the event which is held under the patronage of His Highness Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Imsa Performance MATMUT drivers Raymond Narac, Patrick Pilet and Marco Holzer were pleased with their team performance and Pilet, who was the fastest driver of the team, got in at the very last moment, and said in a press conference afterwards: "We're very happy with these results, we hope it's a good sign for tomorrow. I liked the way the track was, lots of grip on it, so it was a very exciting qualification. There was a great deal of traffic but that is what this type of race is about.”

Second fastest was the Gravity Racing International Mosler, with Vincent Radermecker as fastest driver in the team. Third fastest overall was De Lorenzi Racing Porsche whose fastest driver Marco Cioci: "I think this is a great job by all of the team, I'm really happy for everyone. I think this is a very good sign for tomorrow as I think we definitely have a shot at a win."

The fifth edition of the 24 Hours of Dubai is notable for the big involvement by UAE based teams and drivers. Multiple UAE champion Karim Al Azhari, driving for the VDS Racing Adventures Mustang team was twentieth. He said afterwards, “It is great to be competing here on my home track. It is a long race and anything can happen. We are confident of a good showing.”

Third in the ultra-competitive SP3 Class was the AUH Motorsport Aston Martin headed up by Emirati driver Humaid Al Masaood and including Dubai based drivers Michael Prophet and Eric Charles, with the sister AUH Motorsport Aston Martin was fifth in class. Team principal Carl Rolaston was happy with the performance, “This is our first 24 hour race and we kept a good pace and are in touch with the fast guys in our class. This is a learning curve for us and so far we are on track with the aim of finishing and hopefully scoring a podium.”

Defending class champions, UAE based, DXB Racing were seventh in class. The team were unperturbed about being somewhat down on their rivals as the team know what it takes to win and the philosophy prevailing in their pit garage is that the race is not won in qualifying or even the early stages of the race.

The Duel Racing Renault Clio driven by the Moutran brothers Ramzi, Nabil and Sami along with Sheikh Salman Bin Rashid Al Khalifa was among the front runners in the A2 Class throughout practice and qualifying. They eventually managed fourth place in class.

Track action started today for tomorrow’s (Friday) Dunlop Dubai 24 Hours of Dubai, held under the patronage of His Highness Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Eighty teams, consisting of over 400 drivers from 21 different countries were practicing and making setup teaks to their race cars ahead of race day.