Dubai: Dutch driver Peter Kox made a flying start as the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai race got underway at the Dubai Autodrome yesterday afternoon.
The seventh edition of the event saw 75 cars, from the most powerful machines in the A6 class to the hot hatchbacks from the A2 class, make a flying start. They will be racing twice around the clock at the 5.390km circuit.
Kox in his Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 got off to a flier and grabbed the lead at the first corner from pole-sitter Rob Barffanmd in his AUH Motorsports/FF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 when the lights went green.
The two Italian sports cars went on to battle it out on top of the field for the best part of the first two hours.
The No 12 Ferrari and the No 25 Lamborghini again came in for scheduled pit stops at the end of the second hour, allowing Thomas Jager in the Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 to take the overall lead.
The race, which will finish at 2pm today, is being covered on Motors TV and Radio Le Mans.