Huber Racing secured its first overall podium at the Hankook 24H DUBAI on the German team’s first GT3 outing at the event. 

Huber Racing, which has confirmed a joint-venture with Proton Competition for 2024, has previously contested the Hankook 24H DUBAI four times since 2018 in the Porsche exclusive 991 class, taking 992-Am victory in 2023. 2024 though marked the first time the German team had competed at the event in the GT3 class, an entry that more than proved the potential of both its new Proton collaboration and its Porsche 992 GT3 R by finishing 2nd overall to outright winner Eastalent Racing. 

It was a “flawless performance” that team principal Christoph Huber believes puts to bed a tough year for the team in the Porsche Supercup. 

“After the difficult 2023 season, this was a very good start to the season for us,” Huber explained in an official team statement. “Preparations for the race were extremely complicated due to the postponement. But as a team, we still managed to make it to the start. The entire team put in a flawless performance in Dubai. 2nd place is a strong performance for us, which I am very happy with.”

Huber was also full of praise for Proton Huber Competition’s Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe entry in Portimão, run concurrently with Dubai this past weekend.

“Starting the season with a double programme on two continents is a big challenge, which we mastered with flying colours.”

A rapid first stint by former Porsche Supercup champion Sven Müller meant the #83 Porsche, which qualified 11th, was already up to 5th by the end of the third lap and into the top three, just five seconds behind the leader, after the first 15 minutes. Across the next two hours, Müller and Sergei Borisov, who teamed with Armenian compatriots Victor Shaytar and Rinat Salikhov, would lead the event outright for a combined 26 laps (of 27 total). The German team though was later caught out by a brace of early Code 60s, and were shuffled to the tail end of the top 10 – one lap adrift – heading into the fourth hour. 

At one-third distance, Proton Huber Competition had recovered to 3rd overall, and while the Eastalent Racing Team Audi was still a lap ahead, the #83 Porsche began a prolonged battle with early leader Getspeed for 2nd place. A fight that came to a premature end during the 15th hour when the #9 Mercedes-AMG retired with gearbox issues. Thereafter, Proton would also have to fend off the Attempto Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R for the runners-up spot before the #99 Audi was also retired with a failure at the right rear corner. 

Like most of the field, Proton Huber Competition had to handle a short rain shower early on Sunday morning, with most of the field erring on the side of caution and pitting for wet tyres. Salikhov “remained faultless” in the slippery conditions, after which Huber pulled, what it calls, “a tactical trick in the pit lane” to put the #83 Porsche back on the lead lap during the penultimate hour. 

Though the gap to Eastalent Racing ultimately proved too large to close down, Proton Huber Competition kept the #54 Audi on its toes, and Müller eventually brought “a successful GT3 debut” to a close just 96 seconds adrift.