Abu Dhabi: Khaled Al Qubaisi says back-to-back victories in the Middle East’s two biggest endurance races will be the perfect way for Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon to honour Sean Edwards, who was killed during a track day accident in Australia two months ago.
Edwards, one of the rising stars of motor racing, was a close friend of Al Qubaisi’s and a teammate of the Emirati driver as Black Falcon won the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai for the first time in 2012 and for the second year in a row back in January. He died while instructing a young driver whose Porsche collided with the tyre barrier at the Queensland Raceway circuit in Australia in October.
The Black Falcon team, supported by Abu Dhabi Racing, will honour Edwards when they compete in next week’s Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit and in next month’s 2014 Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai, competing with the AMG SLS GT3.
“We’ll carry Sean’s name on the cars and on our helmets, and we’re going to put all our efforts into building awareness and attracting contributions for the Sean Edwards Foundation,” said Al Qubaisi.
“Sean was a key member of the team which won the 24 Hours of Dubai for the last two years, and now we have even more motivation to take the title for a third time. Of course, I want to win the Gulf 12 hours in Abu Dhabi as it’s my home event, but I also want to win it for Sean because he was a close friend, a great driver and a wonderful person. None of us will ever forget him. I think of him a lot, especially whenever I race.”
Edwards, who played his own father, ex-Formula star Guy Edwards, in the film Rush, was dominating this season’s Porsche Supercup series before his death and also won the prestigious Nürburgring 24 Hours on an SLS with Black Falcon earlier this year.
He competed for Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon for the first time in the 2012 Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai alongside Al Qubaisi, Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen and German Thomas Jäger.
It was a historic occasion, bringing Edwards and the team their first major 24-hour race victories, while Al Qubaisi also went into the record books as the first Emirati driver to be part of a 24 Hours of Dubai winning team.
Twelve months later, Al Qubaisi, Edwards and Bleekemolen combined with multiple German Touring Car champion Bernd Schneider to give the Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon a second successive win at the classic Dubai Autodrome event.
