UAE-based GPX Racing has become only the second Emirati team to take outright victory at the Hankook 24H DUBAI after a commanding performance at the Dubai Autodrome this weekend.
Team Hong Kong Craft-Bamboo Racing’s line-up made up of Hong Kong athletes Jonathan Hui, Antares Au, Frank Yu and Kevin Tse had high expectations going into the 2020 Dubai 24 Hours, given their previous successes at the desert endurance race. Running a historic black and gold Mercedes-AMG livery, the team started the weekend from a strong position after a mega lap in qualifying by Jon Hui. Hui’s effort put the #69 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in 18th overall and 7th in the GT3-AM class, only 1.7 seconds off the overall pole position.
The Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number 4 and drivers Khaled Al Qubaisi from the UAE, Ben Barker from the UK, Hubert Haupt and Manuel Metzger from Germany and Jeroen Bleekemolen from The Netherlands was confirmed as the winner of the 15th edition of the Hankook 24H DUBAI. For the first time in the event’s history, the full duration couldn’t be completed. Heavy rainfall and standing water prompted race control to red-flag the race after 7h17m. In spite of the best efforts by the staff and officials of Dubai Autodrome, continuing rainfall throughout the night and the morning prevented any further action. It was decided not to continue the race for safety reasons, a decision fully accepted and unanimously applauded by everyone in the paddock and pit lane.
At 15.00 hrs local time, His Highness Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum waved the flag of the United Arab Emirates to send the 65-car field underway for the 15th running of the Hankook 24H DUBAI. Once again, the original endurance race in the Gulf region serves as the season opener of the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook and has attracted a packed field of GTs and touring cars featuring teams and drivers from all over the world.
German Maro Engel, a former winner of the FIA GT World Cup, hadn’t raced at Dubai Autodrome since 2017, but that didn’t prevent him from claiming the outright pole position for this week’s 15th running of the Hankook 24H DUBAI. A lap time of 1m57.490s at the 5.390km long Dubai Autodrome was enough for Engel to secure pole position with the Toksport WRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#777, Maro Engel / Luca Stolz / Philip Ellis / Patrick Assenheimer / Martin Konrad). It was also the first pole position for Mercedes-AMG in the Hankook 24H DUBAI since 2017.
Gradually, it has become a tradition like the New Year’s Concert in Vienna or the ski jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: for the 15th consecutive year, Dubai Autodrome will be hosting the Hankook 24H DUBAI, the opening round of the 2020 24H SERIES Continents powered by Hankook. From 7 until 11 January, the state-of-the-art circuit in the United Arab Emirates will be a heave of motor racing activity with a packed grid of GTs and touring cars for the 24-hour race, a six-hour race on Tuesday evening as a flyaway round of the Dutch Winter Endurance Kampioenschap (WEK) and thrilling single-seater action with the F3 Asian Championship and FIA F4 UAE. The 15th running of the event will be celebrated in style.
There’s less than three weeks to go before the 15th edition of the Hankook 24H DUBAI gets underway, and more than 70 entries are already confirmed for the event.
The Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#4, Ben Keating / Jeroen Bleekemolen / Felipe Fraga / Cooper MacNeil) completed a commanding run at the Hankook 24H COTA USA to collect the final outright win of the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook season..
The Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#4, Ben Keating / Jeroen Bleekemolen / Felipe Fraga / Cooper MacNeil) has secured its first 24H SERIES pole position of the year at the season closing Hankook 24H COTA USA. Felipe Fraga posted a 2m 05.697s laptime around the 5.513km Circuit of the Americas, pulling the Mercedes-AMG almost half a second clear of the Toksport WRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#70, Nick Foster / Martin Berry / Eric Zang / George Kurtz) and giving an immense benchmark for teammate Jeroen Bleekemolen to try and beat during the closing stages of the session.
After races in Asia and Europe, it is now time to head to North America for the season finale of the 2019 24H SERIES Continents powered by Hankook. For the third consecutive year, the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, will serve as the venue for the Hankook 24H COTA (15-17 November), organised by Dutch agency CREVENTIC. The combination of the 24H GT division and the 24H TCE division is expected to result into a grid of around 30 cars. “After two years, our event in the US is now firmly established,” CREVENTIC’s Peter Freij says. “It is pleasant to see the growing interest from North American teams: about a third of the grid are teams from the US and Canada.”
The Ligier JS2 R had its first 24-hour race in the 24H BARCELONA with Nordschleife Racing. It was a successful baptism of fire for the Ligier JS2 R and the team. Equipped with its endurance kit and shod with slick tyres, the car showed off its overall performance by fighting in the top 20 and […]
The Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo (#77, Adrian Amstutz / Leonid Machitski / Patrick Kujala / Dennis Lind) has taken victory at the 2019 Hankook 24H BARCELONA after an extraordinary, race-long battle with the Herberth Motorsport Porsche 991 GT3 R (#91, Daniel Allemann / Ralf Bohn / Robert Renauer / Sven Müller).
The Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo (#77, Adrian Amstutz / Leonid Machitski / Patrick Kujala / Dennis Lind) currently leads the 2019 Hankook 24H BARCELONA, albeit by just 9.2 seconds over the Herberth Motorsport Porsche 991 GT3 R (#91, Daniel Allemann / Ralf Bohn / Robert Renauer / Sven Müller).
The Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo (#77, Adrian Amstutz / Leonid Machitski / Patrick Kujala / Dennis Lind) has taken pole position for the 2019 Hankook 24H BARCELONA. Dennis Lind lapped the 4.655km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 1m 46.577s to secure not only the team’s first pole position in the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook this season, but also the first overall top spot for a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 since the season-opening Hankook 24H DUBAI.
Ligier JS Cup France in 2019 and the announcement of the Ligier European Series – a brand-new championship organised by the European Le Mans Series. The Ligier JS2 R makes its way to Barcelona for its first 24-hour race with the Nordschleife Racing French squad at the wheel, well known in the 24H SERIES championship. […]
Next week (30 August-1 September), the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya will be the venue for the 21st running of the Hankook 24H BARCELONA – Trofeu Fermí Velez. The race will be the fifth and final round of the 24H SERIES Europe and will therefore bring the decision in the battle for the various titles. Moreover, the event at the famous Spanish Grand Prix circuit counts towards the 24H SERIES Continents. Excitement is guaranteed with a packed field of 31 cars for the GT SERIES and 18 cars for the TCE SERIES. Each division will have a separate starting group and its own prize-giving ceremony.
With the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO in the books, teams and drivers in the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook are enjoying a well-deserved summer break before the action continues with the Hankook 24H BARCELONA (30 August-1 September). A good opportunity therefore to have a look at the upcoming season that gets underway with the Hankook 24H DUBAI (9-11 January 2020).
The Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3 (#11, Jiří Písařík / Josef Kral / Matteo Malucelli) has taken its fourth consecutive win of this year’s 24H SERIES powered by Hankook in commanding fashion at the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO.
The Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3 (#11, Jiří Písařík / Josef Kral / Matteo Malucelli) currently leads the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO after four hours of running at the 4.652km Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.