Oktanas team clock fastest lap to snatch pole

Dubai: The Oktanas team from Lithuania snatched the first position at the top of the grid for the start of the 2nd Toyo Tires 24 hour Dubai Endurance Race at the Dubai Autodrome yesterday.

Driving a Porsche 996RSR the team clocked a fastest lap of 2:04.692 to end just 0.281 seconds ahead of the Race Alliance Motorsport team from Austria, also in a Porsche 996. The Oktanas team had shown early form during yesterday morning's free practice session as they finished behind Team Race Alliance Motorsports.

In third place on the grid was Austria's Duller Motorsport team in a BMW Z4 Coupe with a time of 2:05.693, while the Konrad Lechner Motorsport team took fourth also in a Porsche GT3 RSR in a time of 2:06.491.

The second edition of the Toyo Tires 24 hour Endurance Race has attracted nearly 80 teams from 26 countries. Action will get under way this afternoon with the flagging off of the race at 2 pm.

Prior to the main race will be The Lumina CSV Championship Middle East and the Drift Challenge.

The endurance race will be held in two divisions - Division 1 includes diesel touring cars from 1000 cc up to 3000 cc, and Division 2 consists of touring cars and the 24-hour race cars starting from 1000 cc going right up to 4000 cc. Division 2 has six categories based on the cubic capacity of the cars, while Division 1 will have just two categories.

The first Toyo Tires 24 hour Dubai Endurance Race in 2006 was won by three teams from Europe.

Team Duller Motorsport 1 from Austria won the overall title in a BMW M3, while the Herbert Bergh Motorsport team from Sweden took second in a Porsche 996.

This year's competition has 27 teams opting for the Porsche while another 20 have shown favour to the BMWs.