Belgian Audi Club WRT Audi drivers Laurens Vanthoor, Michael Meadows, Stuart Leonard and Alain Ferte have won the 2016 edition of the Dubai 24 Hours, coming home five laps clear of their nearest rivals, the #16 Black Falcon Mercedes of Oliver Webb, Adam Christodoulou, Oliver Morley and Frankie Montecalvo.
That result capped off a rollercoaster weekend for the German team, after its original #16 chassis was completely written off in a fire on Thursday. Mechanics worked through the night to ready a spare chassis – the 2015 Dubai race-winning car that was on display in the paddock – to take part in the race (below).
German Patrick Assenheimer, who was at the wheel of the original car when it caught fire and suffered burns to his face and arms, was unable to take part in the race. His seat in the #16 was taken by Abdulaziz Al-Faisal, owner of the replacement car and also entered in one of the two brand-new AMG GTs being run by the squad.
Third place was hotly contested until the end, finally going the way of the polesitting C. Abt Racing Audi R8, which had disputed the lead during the early stages. Some lengthy pitstops saw it tumble down the order and seemingly out of contention, but a fighting recovery drive from the crew of Christer Joens, Andreas Weishaupt, Isaac Tutumlu, Matias Henkola and GT3 newbie Daniel Abt had them in fourth – when last-minute drama struck the car ahead.
The Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan, driven by team owner Franz Konrad, Lamborghini factory man Fabio Babini, German Christian Engelhart and Swiss duo Mark and Rolf Ineichen, were on course for a strong start for what’s going to be a very busy season for the German-based Austrian squad, but were cruelly robbed of it in the final 25 minutes by an engine fire. Such was their lead over other cars, though, that they would still be classified xth at the flag.
Their potential podium was itself partly going to be down to the misfortune of Audi team Land Motorsport – another squad running a new R8. Marc Basseng, Christopher Mies, Carsten Tilke and in particular rapid young American Connor de Phillippi drove superbly to keep the car in contention right until the 22nd hour, when terminal gearbox failure put an end to their efforts.
Another potential prospect for the win, the Scuderia Praha Ferrari 458, was eliminated shortly after nightfall when Matteo Cressoni suffered a heavy crash involving the Swedish-crewed #51 Primus Racing GT4 Ginetta in the SP3 class. Driver of that car Thomas Martinsson was taken to hospital with multiple broken bones, but no life-threatening injuries.
Both of the new Mercedes being run by Black Falcon suffered setbacks – the #3 mechanical trouble, the #2 contact with a backmarker while Jeroen Bleekemolen was driving. British squad Ram Racing, also debuting a new Mercedes GT3 here, ran strongly in the early stages, but also saw their efforts scuppered by a mechanical issue and eventually crossed the line just outside the top 20.
Fourth overall and victory in the A6 Am sub-class went to the Swiss Hofor Racing Mercedes. Drivers Michael Kroll, Chantal Kroll, Ronald Eggiman, Kenneth Heyer and Christian Frankenhout had possibly the most drama-free run of any of the GT3 cars, keeping their heads in what was at times a hectic race.
Optimum Motorsport recorded a very impressive fifth place overall for its debut race running the new Audi R8. But Joe Osborne, Flick Haigh, Ryan Ratcliffe and on-loan Audi factory ace Frank Stippler were left wanting more, having led the race in the early stages before some contact necessitated time-consuming repairs that took them out of the mix.
Also coming home in the overall top 10 was the #22 Preci-Spark Mercedes of David, Godfrey, Morgan, Phillip and Gareth Jones, just ahead of the first of two new R8s entered by German squad Car Collection. The venerable Chevrolet Corvette of Dutch outfit V8 Racing led home HB Racing’s Lamborghini Huracan to complete the top 10.
