Dubai: Home favourites Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon made a good start to the ninth Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai on Friday to remain in contention for a third successive title at Dubai Autodrome.
Starting from second on the grid, the team led by UAE star Khalid Al Qubaisi was jostling for position with pole-sitters V8 Racing Corvette for much of the first hour.
At the hour mark it was Fach Auto Tech 2 Porsche who led and they, along with the Stadler Motorsport Porsche, the MRS GT-Racing Porsche and the All-Inkl Munich Motorsport Mercedes, will be the main challengers to Team Abu Dhabi and the Corvette.
The 80-car field for the race was flagged off by Shaikh Juma Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum at 2pm on Friday, shortly after the entire grid stood for a minute of silence for last year’s race winner Sean Edwards, Allan Simonsen, “Wolf Silvester”, former class winner Stephane Wintenberger and engineer Michael Tallantire, all of whom died in the last year.
The first hours were a frenetic affair as the big field, featuring some of the world’s best endurance drivers, jostled for position in blustery conditions.
Nicky Pastorelli in the Corvette and Jeroen Bleekemolen in the Team Abu Dhabi Mercedes AMG SLS GT3 swapped positions many occasions early on.
The UAE-based teams, all intent on podium finishes in their home race, were all running well in first few hours. Both Dragon Racing Ferraris were featuring strongly in the A6 Pro-Am Class, with the pair in the top six.
The Memac Ogilvy Duel Racing Seat set the early pace in the A3T Class, while the Lap57 Honda led proceedings in the A2 Class, with the SVDP Racing BMW battling it out in the top three in the D1 Class.
Dubai Autodrome Chairman Ali Al Fardan said: “This race has grown from strength to strength over the years and this year it is the best I have witnessed, with great drivers, very professional teams, local interest in the UAE competitors and, most of all, the atmosphere has been superb thanks to the combined efforts of the Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Sports Council and the Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing.”
The race, which finishes at 2pm on Saturday, is held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council.
