Photo Gallery will be uploaded on Monday

16 January 2010
Race Report: Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai
French Porsche team take overall win with UAE team AUH Motorsport winning Class SP3

The French Imsa Performance Matmut Porsche with Raymond Narac, Patrick Pilet and Marco Holzer behind the wheel crossed the line this afternoon at 2pm to win the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai at Dubai Autodrome. The fifth edition of the race was held under the patronage of His Highness Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The winning team started from pole and only briefly lost the lead in the early stages of the race during the pitstops. However the strategy by the team was such that they were able to consolidate their lead during the night and from then on controlled the race, completing 608 laps of the Dubai Autodrome Grand Prix circuit configuration. They were also Class A6 winners.

Patrick Pilet who drove the car across the finish line to take the chequered flag said afterwards, “This is a fantastic win for our team on our first attempt here at Dubai Autodrome. We had some anxious moments during the 24 hours but our team dealt with all problems rapidly and efficiently. This was a great team effort from the mechanics right through to the drivers and we are very happy. Dubai is a great place and we will be back.”

Although it was virtually a flag to flag victory for the Imsa Mamut team they were pushed hard throughout the 24 hours by the two BMWs of Japanese team Petronas Syntium Team and Saudi Arabian entry Al Faisal Racing. Both teams gave relentless pursuit throughout the 24 hours but the Petronas Syntium Team had to settle for second place overall, a mere three laps behind the leaders after the 24 hours. They were Class A5 winners.

Al Faisal Racing, who finished second last year, again showed strongly throughout the race but could only manage third place overall despite a mammoth effort by the drivers in the final hours.

Some of the pre-race favourites fell by the wayside including last year’s winners, the number 1 Land Motorsport-Porsche which was sidelined after the engine was over revved. One of the biggest incidents during the race was the number AF Corse Ferrari which was involved in a collision with a slower car with NASCAR star Michael Waltrip at the wheel. The American veteran could not avoid collision with an out of control car appeared in his path on the track. The Ferrari incurred considerable damage and was forced to retire.

There was joy for UAE based teams contesting the race, notably the AUH Motorsports Aston Martin 2 with Emiratis driver Humaid Al Masaood, Michael Prophet, Eric Charles and Alex Kapadia sharing the driving who powered to victory in the tightly contested SP3 Class. Team principal Carl Rolaston was delighted with the team’s calss win in their first ever 24 hours endurance race, “This is a fantastic moment for our team to win here on home turf in the Dunlop 24 Hoursof Dubai is a dream come true. Our drivers put in a great show and the team was superb throughout a stressful event for everyone. Being on the top of the podium is reward for hard work and a big boost for UAE motorsport.”

Also impressing in their debut in the 24 Hours of Dubai were locally based Duel Racing Team who drove their Renault Clio to second place in the Class A2 with their drivers the Moutran brothers Sami, Ramzi and Nabil with Sheikh Salman Bin Rashid Al Khalifa. They chased eventual winners Team Sally Racing Renault Clio throughout the 24 hours but fell short by 11 laps by the time the chequered flag fell to end the race.

There was heartbreak for last year’s winners of the SP3 Class, as Dubai based DXB Racing Aston Martin looked set to repeat the feat until mechanical problems intervened which cost them a great deal of time and dropped them down the order. They gave a gallant chase to try and make it on to the podium but were denied, finishing fourth in class.

Also succumbing to mechanical gremlins was the Al Qasba Team Lap 57 UAE Team Honda Civic. They were forced to change gearboxes twice during the course of the race, but despite this managed to make it to the end which in itself was a victory for the teams who crossed the finish line after 24 hours.

Dubai Autodrome Chairman Saeed Khalfan said at the end, “Once again the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai was a fantastic race and my congratulations go to all the class winners with particular mention to the winning team Imsa, Preformance Matmut Racing. Also special mention to the UAE teams who once again did us proud. We hosted over 2000 people in our city including drivers, team crew and media. They were all very impressed by Dubai and our cicuit and I hope to see them all back here again next year,”

Top three:
1. Narac/Pilet/Holzer - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR
2. Taniguchi/Yanagida/Hairuman/Stuck/Yoshida - BMW Z4
3. Al Faisal/Hürtgen/Hartung/Al Faisal - BMW Z4

Class winners:
A2 # 89 Team Sally Racing  Renault Clio
A3T # 74 Sunred 1   SEAT Leon Supercopa
A4 # 88 Team Black Falcon 2  BMW Z4 Coupé
A5 # 40 Petronas Synthium Team BMW Z4 Coupé
A6 # 66 IMSA Racing Performance Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
D1 # 112 Marcos Racing International 1 BMW 120D
D2 # 33 BMW Team Hungary with E.D. BMW 120D
SP1 # 168 Bovi Motorsport   Brokernet Silversting
SP2 # 111 Team Black Falcon 1  BMW M3 E92
SP3 # 122 AUH Motorsports 2  Aston Martin Vantage GT4

• Overall Race Results    • Race Results by Class    • Lap Times by Team

16 January 2010
Race First Half: Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai
Porsche and BMW battle for victory in incident packed first half

It is a close call between the number 66-IMSA Performance Matmut-Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Raymond Narac/Patrick Pilet/Marco Holzer) and the number 40-Petronas Syntium Racing Team BMW Z4 Coupé (Nobutaru Taniguchi/Masataka Yanagida/Farique Hairuman/Johannes Stuck/Hiroki Yoshida) at the halfway point in the fifth anniversary edition of the Dunlop 24H of Dubai. After twelve hours in the race and with the same amount of time still remaining, the BMW is leading with 291 laps, only one lap ahead of the Porsche. Last year’s runners-up, the number 2-Al Faisal Racing BMW Z4 Coupé (Abdulaziz Al Faisal/Claudia Hürtgen/Marco Hartung/Khalad Al Faisal) is another two laps down in third place.

The IMSA Performance Matmut-Porsche RSR is faster than the BMWs, but is also less efficient on fuel, meaning that it has to come in for refuelling more often than its opponents. The other IMSA Performance-Matmut-Porsche (Christophe Bourret/Pascal Gibbon/Richard Balandras) dropped back on the leaderboard as the clutch had to be replaced on the car in the twelfth hour of the race.

The relatively high race pace took its toll in the first half of the race, quite a few teams having retired already. Among the early retirements were the Auto Racing Club Bratislava-Porsche (Miroslav Konopka/Oliver Morley/Sean Edwards/Richard Cvörnjek) and the Besaplast-Porsche (Franjo Kovac/Martin Tschornia/Kurt Thiim/Roland Asch/Sebastian Asch). The latter team that finished third in last year’s race was out of contention after their car caught fire on the main straight with Martin Tschornia behind the wheel, seven and a half hours into the race. The unfortunate driver escaped unscathed, but the car was damaged beyond immediate repair.

Last year’s winners, the number 1-Land Motorsport-Porsche (Gabriel Abergel/Xavier Pompidou/Carsten Tilke/Otto Klohs) was sidelined as well after Tilke had over-revved the engine. Almost at the same time, the number 148-AF Corse Ferrari (Robert Kaufmann/Michael Waltrip/Marcos Ambrose/Rui Aguas/Niki Cadei) became involved in a collision with another car. NASCAR-star Michael Waltrip, who drove his first-ever 24-hour race in Dubai, couldn’t avoid the collision when the other car started swerving in front of him. The Ferrari also incurred considerable damage and retired. Up to the time of the accident, the Ferrari had been consistently in the top ten, running as high as sixth at times.

Amidst the Porsche and BMWs out in front, there are also two teams who prove that it doesn’t have to be a sports car to rank among the top ten. The SEAT Leon Supercopa car of the Spanish SUNRED-team (Oscar Nogues/Michael Rossi/Ferran Monje/Borja Veiga) and the BMW 120D of the BMW Team Hungary with Efficient Dynamics (Lászlò Palik/János Vida/Czaba Walter/Gábor Weber) were leading their respective classes in ninth and tenth place overall.

The class leaders after twelve hours:
A2 # 85 Boutsen Energy Racing 1 Renault Clio
A3T # 74 Sunred 1 SEAT Leon Supercopa
A4 # 88 Team Black Falcon 2 BMW Z4 Coupé
A5 # 40 Petronas Synthium Team BMW Z4 Coupé
A6 # 66 IMSA Racing Performance Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
D1 # 108 Red Camel Racing 1 SEAT Leon TDI
D2 # 33 BMW Team Hungary with E.D. BMW 120D
SP1 # 168 Bovi Motorsport Brokernet Silversting
SP2 # 44 VDS Racing Adventures Ford Mustang FR500
SP3 # 22 Al Faisal Racing 2 BMW M3 GT4

15 January 2010
Race First 2 Hours: Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai
Big crowd turn out to watch 78 teams embark on epic endurance challenge

A big crowd descended on Dubai Autodrome to witness the start of the fifth Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai which got underway at 2pm and will run for 24 hours until tomorrow (Saturday). A total of 74 cars were set off at the start by Dubai Autodrome Chairman Saeed Khalfan 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 1 Porsche started from pole and led in the early stages of the race with De Lorenzi Porsche holding station in second with Imsa Performance MATMUT 2 Porsche in third.

Also at the sharp end of proceedings were the two BMWs of Al Faisal Racing and Petronas Syntium Team.

Also running strongly in the early stages were last year’s winning team Land Motorsport Porsche who are particularly strong at night and will be looking to attack when darkness engulfs the race.

The early was extremely fast and there were a number of early minor incidents, none major, which saw a number of cars spinning out including locally based DBX Racing Aston Martin with Julian Griffin at the wheel. The incident cost them several places but they carried on.

The team, which includes Frederic Gaillard, Jonathan Simmonds, Phil Quaife and Robert Barff, are aiming to defend their title which they won in last year’s race.

The Al Qasba Lap 57 UAE Team Honda was forced to start from the pitlane due to a qualifying infringement and were at the tail of the huge field in the early laps, however not for long as they soon started making their way through the field with Umair Khan at the wheel. Also in theline-up are the Owais brothers Mohammed and Omran, Saeed Al Mehairi.

The UAE based AUH Motorsport 2 Aston Martin, headed up by Emirati driver Humaid Al Masaood and including Dubai based drivers Michael Prophet and Eric Charles, was running strongly in third place in Class SP3 with DXB Racing holding station in fourth. In Class A2 the local entry of Duel Racing Renault Clio, driven by the Moutran brothers Ramzi, Nabil and Sami along with Sheikh Salman Bin Rashid Al Khalifa, was leading the class with two hours on the clock.

The early hours seldom provide much of an indication of what to expect at the end of the race 24 hours later. Teams will have consolidated themselves within the field and will be going all out to preserve their cars for the duration of the event. Much can happen, and often does, in 24 hours racing. The most important goal for teams is to be there at the end, anything else is a bonus.

On the grid prior to the start Dubai Autodrome Chairman Saeed Khalfan said, “I am amazed at the progress in the cars since our first race five years ago. What I am seeing today on the grid at our circuit is state of the art machinery. I am not fond of making predictions but I will go as far as saying that this year we are in for a great race as there are at least a dozen teams capable of taking overall victory. And of course the battles in the various classes make this event several races within one big race. I wish all the drivers and teams the good luck and may the best team win.”

The chequered flag will fall at 2pm tomorrow (Saturday) at Dubai Autodrome. This will be followed by the official podium ceremonies for the overall winners and the class victors.

Click here for live timing and live reports from the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai