On January 10-11, the Dubai Autodrome presented the 9th edition of the Dunlop Tires 24H of Dubai. Over 80 teams from around the world competed in this very popular international event. The race lasts for 24 hours straight, and has for the past nine years been quite a must-see event for both driving enthusiasts and the general public. The results are in…
Often compared to the 24-hour Le Mans race, the Dunlop 24H of Dubai was truly a test of skill and endurance not only for the participants, but for the crowd as well. 80 teams of over 400 drivers from 40 different countries lined up to compete in this event in classes based on the style of the cars. For the last two years, the winner was Khalid Al Qubaisi and his Team Abu Dhabi. One of the major competitors against this returning champion was Dragon Racing, which entered the race with two Ferraris.
Surprisingly enough the Swiss team Stadler Motorsport won the race this year in #20 Porsche 997 GT3 R, ending the two-year winning streak of Mercedes. The final driver on the Stadler team, Rolf Ineichen, completed the 603 laps (3250.17 km) on Saturday afternoon, taking the checkered flag. The other members of his team were Mark Ineichen, Marcel Matter, Adrian Amstutz and Christian Engelhart. This was the first ever win for Swiss team in this race. Taking second place was the #38 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 from the German team, Münnich Motorsport, driven by Rene Münnich, Marc Basseng and Rob Huff. Third place was won by Khalid Al Qubaisi and Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon, also in a Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, #2.
One of the things that was working against Khalid Al Qubaisi achieving a third consecutive win was a blown tire and a spin out in the last stages of the race. Other notable issues were a collision involving Ram Racing’s Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, #30, another involving SX Team Schubert’s BMW Z4 GT3, #76; all of the teams had at least one mechanical issue throughout the race. There were 27 lead changes among nine teams.
After the victory, the head driver of the winning team, Rolf Ineichen rode a camel to the podium to accept the trophy graciously from His Highness Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, saying, “This is incredible. It was a great race. We recovered from a practice accident. We drove steadily and when it mattered we took command. Although it was very tense throughout because there some big teams chasing us. We kept it together and we won. It is a fantastic victory for our team.”
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