Dubai: Up-and-coming Dubai-based race team, GPX Racing, have won the world-famous 24 Hours of Spa.
The 71st edition of the legendary endurance race saw the most challenging race conditions, but the young team from the UAE, supported by Porsche, prevailed thanks to its three drivers — Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Richard Lietz and the UAE national anthem rang out around the race circuit.
GPX Racing only has a few months’ experience in the Blancpain GT Series but the trio fought at the front of the field from start and gave Porsche its first victory in the Ardennes classic since 2010.
Pierre-Brice Mena, Team Principal for GPX Racing said: “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. A month ago we didn’t even know if we would be competing in this race. When we turned up at the 24 Hours of Spa with such a strong driver line-up we knew we could do a good job — but there were so many parameters. We made a great start to the race and then we had a drive-through. Above all, we had to avoid falling a lap behind. We fought our way back among the few teams capable of winning in the final hours. When you have such an opportunity to go for victory you have to grasp it with both hands and not be content with second place. We were never able to relax with the traffic and the battle right to the end with the other victory contenders and the incredibly challenging track conditions. But we finished with not one technical issue. A big thanks to Porsche, to the team and to all our partners for this extraordinary moment.”
