Scotland’s Finlay Hutchison will make his fist race appearance of the New Year at the annual Hankook 24H Dubai, which gets underway at Dubai Autodrome next Friday, 15th January, after this morning confirming a deal with top Audi Sport squad Attempto Racing.
The 20-year-old from Dundee, who competed with the German team in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup last year, will be reunited with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO he raced in 2020 and forms part of a fantastic line-up in the headline GT3-Pro class.
Partnering Audi Sport stars Christopher Mies and Markus Winkelhock, the No.99 entry is completed by Alex Aka – with whom Hutchison teamed at Attempto last season in GT World Challenge – and Philipp Sager.
“I can’t wait to be back at the Dubai 24 Hours, and I’m delighted to be racing there with the Attempto guys as we built up a great relationship last season”, said a delighted Hutchison, “This will be my fifth year in the Dubai race, but I think it’s certainly the first where we’ve got a real chance of fighting for the overall podium and, who knows, maybe even the win.
“Alex [Aka] and I worked very well together last season in Europe and it’s going to be absolutely fantastic teaming with Christopher [Mies] and Markus [Winkelhock]. They’re both outstanding drivers and I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can from them. It’s a great opportunity.”
Hutchison has, of course, enjoyed impressive success at the Dubai 24 Hours during the past four instalments – starting off with a TCR class win at just 16-years-of-age back in 2017 at the wheel of an Audi RS 3 LMS.
Stepping up to GT3 for the 2018 race, he finished second in the A6-AM Class in his maiden outing driving a V8 Racing Chevrolet Corvette. Last January, Hutchison was second in the GT3-AM class with Toksport WRT Mercedes-AMG.
With more than 50 entries expected across all classes, and with fierce competition from the likes of Porsche, Mercedes-AMG and Lamborghini in the headline class, Hutchison – who is supported by Hutchison Technologies, Evoson and In-Home Displays – is relishing his first track action of 2021.
“We’ve had a good run in Dubai over the last few years, so I really do want to keep that momentum going”, he added, “We’re up against some top teams and drivers, but I really am feeling very positive about our chances. I know the Attempto guys will give us a great car, hopefully we can have the reliability and consistency which are key in any 24 hour race and come away with a great result.”
Free practice at Dubai Autodrome will take place at 11.50 (local time) next Thursday, 14th January, with qualifying for the GT3 cars following at 15.30 (local time) ahead of a 90-minute night practice session for all cars.
Warm-Up will be held at 11.00 (local time) on Friday, 15th January, with the twice-round-the-clock race getting underway at 15.00 (local time). In the UK, the Dubai 24 Hours will commence at 11.00 with live online streaming HERE
Source. Marc Orme
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