The Dubai 24 Hour Race is together a sports car and touring car automobile endurance race held annually and was inaugurated in 2006. The Endurance race is open to both professional and amateur teams. There are both local competitors from the UAE and neighboring nations in the Persian Gulf as well as a host of international teams particularly from European and North American nations. Contrasting the Le Mans in France whereby teams are invited by the organizers, the Dubai 24 Hour is exclusively made up of teams who have registered earlier to the inauguration of the actual race. Entrants must file in an application in order to have a chance at competing. Registration fees also apply for competitors to compete in Race.
The race features a variety of touring cars as well as specially built customized cars from a wide range of marquees which are qualified to enter. These range from small engine Cars such as Honda Civic to racing-bred sport cars like McLaren and GT continental.
There are many different classes the competitor can compete based on car specifications like Engine Displacement, Power Etc .Class A1 is exclusively for subcompact cars with maximum engine displacement of 1300cc and can run on a minimum weight of 750 kg. Class A2 features a host of super 1600 and super 2000 vehicles. These are generally hatchback and sedan cars. Class A3 generally includes cars up to 2500 cc displacement and further enhanced by Turbocharger. Further A4 to A6 include cars with Engine displacement varying from 3000 to 6000 cubic centimeters capacity. Dubai 24 hour also features hybrid cars that run on electricity. This category was introduced in 2010 for first time.
The 24 Hour of Dubaiendurance race has become a stronghold of the international motorsport calendar and is the foremost road racing event on the global calendar of any given year. It attracts a huge entry of teams and drivers from all corners of the world including a number of teams and drivers from the UAE. Some of the world’s most famous drivers have driven competitively the circuit including that of Kimi Raikkonen, Johnny Herbert, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Nelson Piquet, Nico Roseburg, Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Sebastien Buemi to name some.