Weather may play major role in Nivea for Men 24 Hours race

Dubai: Team captains competing in this weekend's Nivea for Men 24 Hours of Dubai event will probably spend most of the hours leading up to the start of Friday's event at the Kartdrome checking the skies and monitoring the weather forecasts, as the elements are likely to play a major role in the outcome of the race.

For teams competing in the first round of the Nivea for Men Endurance Challenge it looks likely that strategies will have to be reviewed and changed to accommodate the weather variations as the possibility of rain and strong winds looms.

Over 20 teams will take to the grid at 2pm at the Kartdrome, and battle it out for what will be 24 grueling hours. Strong winds will play into the hand of the lighter and smaller drivers while rain will benefit the experienced racers.

The organisers have introduced some modifications to the rules to help level the playing field and add a further element of fair play to the Nivea for Men Endurance Challenge. The technical checks to karts will be carried out during a period starting at the halfway mark of the race at 2am.

Two karts at a time will be signaled to come in to the pits by officials where they will remain stationary for precisely eight minutes while the technical crew inspect, maintain and repair the kart if required.

Another major change in proceedings is that driver changes will no longer be done in front of the team's pit area but rather in a designated area before the first pit garage.