THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET MOVING IN THE DESERT: BWT MUCKE MOTORSPORT IN LINE-UP FOR 2019 24-HOURS OF DUBAI

BWT Mücke Motorsport aim to move mountains in the desert! The illustrious Berlin-based team are going to contest the famous 24-Hours of Dubai for a second time. The team will fight for a top result in their kfzteile24 Audi R8 LMS at Dubai’s Autodrome with a crack squad of drivers at the wheel of their orange racing car – Audi Sport’s Markus Winkelhock, Ford works driver Stefan Mücke plus Mike David Ortmann, Ricardo Feller and Andreas Weishaupt (10th – 12th January 2019). 

For BWT Mücke Motorsport, their return to Dubai will be really special, as the team notched up a sensational fifth place in their first ever 24-hour race with the best-placed Audi in the entire field at this venue in 2018. Buoyed by that experience and with the benefit of further knowledge gained from competing in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2018, BWT Mücke Motorsport can’t wait to get started in the desert classic. As the 24-Hours of Dubai is traditionally the first skirmish of the season for the GT elite, the team intend to at least achieve a repeat of last year’s result.

Fans can look forward to two world firsts when BWT Mücke Motorsport present their new kfzteile24 livery for 2019 at the 5.39-km circuit and field the recently updated Audi R8 LMS, which should be very exciting. Audi Sport launched the upgrade in October with the aim of giving even more consistent handling by improving aerodynamics and cooling and also turned their attention to the transmission, making it more durable. BWT Mücke Motorsport have already tested the new package at Oschersleben and were positive in their conclusions.

While the exterior and interior of the Audi R8 LMS may have undergone a makeover, the other ingredients for success remain almost identical. With Winkelhock, Ortmann, Feller and Weishaupt, BWT Mücke Motorsport are relying on the drivers, who achieved success in Dubai last year. Endurance racing expert Stefan Mücke complements the other four drivers perfectly.

Comments on the 24-Hours of Dubai

Peter Mücke (Team Principal): “Our expectations are now slightly different following our 24-hour debut last year and the 24-Hours at the Nürburgring. This will be our second start in Dubai and we’re no longer rookies. We know exactly what to expect, which is important. As a result, we’ve beefed up our team and our line-up of drivers as compared to 2018. Ricardo Feller and Mike David Ortmann were rookies back then but are now experienced GT drivers. Markus Winkelhock, Andreas Weishaupt and Stefan are veterans in any case, but at the same time, we all know that a little bit of luck is needed in a 24-hour race. Our goal has to be to avoid making any mistakes in order to have a clean drive. There’s not a lot we can do about the rest.”

Matthias Kieper (PR & Team Management): “Dubai’s 24-hour race is always one of the absolute highlights of the year. All the top teams and drivers come together for the first time to start the new season after the long winter and get an initial idea of where they stand. Dubai 2018 was a big success for BWT Mücke Motorsport – both on and off the track. It was a moment that none of us will forget in a hurry, crossing the finish line in our first 24-hour race in P5 with the best-placed Audi. Another thing is that our time in Dubai welds the entire team together again before the actual start of the season, especially when it ends successfully, so we know exactly what we have to do!”

Michael Weiss (Technical Director): “Work to prepare the car has been completed and it will now be shipped to Dubai. Of course, our engineers will continue to work on strategy until the race, but here too, preparations are already quite well advanced and we are well prepared in all areas. The only question mark hanging over things is the Balance of Performance rating for the next-generation Audi R8 LMS which we will be fielding in a race for the first time in Dubai. The new BoP categories are still being decided at this moment in time, so we don’t yet know whether the latest Audi will get a decent rating in Dubai. We’ve already done some testing with the upgrades at Oschersleben and were able to confirm the first impressions of the Audi factory drivers who worked on its development. It is much better and nicer to drive and is easier to control close to the limit, which, along with the fact that we are now more experienced, makes us feel confident, even if the fastest and best car

Source. BWT Mücke Motorsport/Photo. BWT Mücke Motorsport/Berzerkdesign