The UAE’s Dragon Racing is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, doing so with the arrival of two Ferrari 296 GT3s that are likely to compete at the 2024 Hankook 24H DUBAI. 

As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, and following an official shakedown at Fiorano, Dragon Racing International LLC has now taken delivery of two Ferrari 296 GT3s, which will join the team’s arsenal of 488 Challenge Evos and 458 Challenge customer fleet models. Tellingly, Dragon Racing has also expressed an interest in returning to the Hankook 24H DUBAI in January with both 296 GT3s, with one also potentially lining up for the Hankook 6H ABU DHABI one week later.

If fully confirmed, this would automatically put Dragon Racing in contention for CREVENTIC’s 2023/2024 Middle East Trophy. It would also mark the UAE team’s first GT3 run at the Hankook 24H DUBAI, as well as its first with a Ferrari, since 2016.

Speaking with Dailysportcar.com back in August, Dragon Racing CEO Brad Fincham explained, "we look forward to being back on the GT3 grid. Our foundations in the UAE started with the 458 GT3 where we took two wins at the 24H DUBAI and podiums in the Gulf 12hrs. We also enjoyed success at the Gulf 12hrs with the 488 GT3, so being back racing at the front is a challenge we are looking forward to."

Dragon Racing is one of more than 33 GT3 entries already registered for the 19th running of the Hankook 24H DUBAI on 12-13-14 January, and one of 66 cars on the provisional entry list.

Founded as ‘Dragon Inc.’ in 2011, the team competed in the UAE’s local UAE GT Championship with its first model, the Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. A fleet that would expand the following year to include two Ferrari 458GT3 Italias, three Ferrari 458 Challenges, six McLaren Sprints, and a Radical LM SR8. All under the guidance of team owner Leon Price, who, inspired by a Ferrari track day at Monza in 2008, took his first race win at Snetterton in 2010 before taking on four rounds of the GT Trophy Endurance in 2011 aboard his newly-acquired 458 Italia GT3 under the name ‘Dragon Inc,’ a name fueled by Price’s connections with Hong Kong. Hence also the ‘88’ starting number. 

In 2013, Dragon Racing – now officially branded ‘Dragon Racing International LLC’ – made its Hankook 24H DUBAI debut, at which Price, Rob Barff, Jordan Grogor and Matt Griffin completed the UAE team’s first 24-hour endurance race in a credible 9th in-class. One year later, Dragon, still based at the Dubai Autodrome to this day, took its first class win at the Hankook 24H DUBAI, as Grogor, Khaled Al Mudhaf, Mohammed Jawa and Frédéric Fatien brought the A6-Am-entered Ferrari 458 Italia home 7th overall. The following year in 2015, Dragon Racing improved yet further when Grogor, Jawa, Griffin and Barff took the team’s second consecutive A6-Am win and an overall podium spot behind event winner Stadler Motorsport and ALL-INKL.com Münnich Motorsport.

Since then, and having switched predominantly to the GT4 class from 2019 onwards, minus a one-off GTX run in 2020 with a Lamborghini Hurácan Super Trofeo, Dragon Racing has secured three further class wins, the most recent being GT4 class victory in a collaborative entry with ROFGO Racing. ROFGO owner Roald Goethe has since bought the #488 Mercedes for the ROFGO museum collection, as the 2023 Hankook 24H DUBAI marked the first 24-hour race in which Roald and his sons Benjamin and Oliver competed in the same car.

* Check out the full Dailysportcar interview with Brad Fincham HERE