“And in goes the 46!”

For a moment, it looked like Valentino Rossi’s Hankook 24H DUBAI debut had ended abruptly after just 2.5 hours – and before the MotoGP GOAT had even started his first shift – when the #46 BMW M4 GT3 skittered off the track and into the barriers, hard, at turn five.

Fortunately, Timothy Whale was uninjured. And, even more incredibly, so too it seemed was the BMW. 

Having slid through fluid dropped at turn five, the M4 had somehow managed to hit the tyre wall with both the front and rear right wheels simultaneously. Back in the box, and with the race now neutralized under Code 60, Whale handed the tiller over to teammate Max Hesse, who was quickly sent on his way after Team WRT mechanics gave the BMW the all-clear. Amazingly, despite a heavy off, the #46 had ‘only’ slipped back from 3rd overall to 5th. 

“I just saw the car in front of me go off, and I hardly had any time to react,” Whale explained to radiolemans.com’s Joe Bradley shortly afterwards. “I wasn’t quite sure what the issue was. And I went through T5 into T6, which is flat in fourth [gear], and all of a sudden… I think there’s some oil down, and I was just trying to keep the car off the barrier. Unfortunately we had some contact but the car touched [the barrier] pretty square, so I think I got away with it!”

Ironically, the #46 nearly wiped itself out of the race for a second time moments later in a near-miss with Herberth Motorsport as the Porsche and BMW entered the refueling area. 

The #46 BMW was not the only car caught out by the fluid dump at turn five, of course.

One of the first on the scene, Grove Racing’s Porsche squirrelled but managing to recover through turn six, and thus preserve its 16th place. Lionel Amrouche in the Vortex was the first to pirouette on the greasy surface (aptly, TV cameras picked up the #46 BMW scything, backwards, through the shot behind it). Quick responses from Thierry Chkondali and Dino Lunardi meanwhile meant both the 700 Miles Volkswagen Golf and the Visiom Ferrari 488 GT3 stepped out at turn five, but survived, while Gray Newell in the Heart of Racing by SPS Mercedes completed a full 360 before he too got going again. 

Ironically, the catalyst for the commotion – Phoenix Racing – was already touring down the back straight as the BMW began pulling itself from the barriers. The #1 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II had received a hefty clout from Speed Lover on the approach to turn five, puncturing the Porsche’s radiator – hence the slick surface – and damaging the Audi’s suspension and rear alignment. In a recovery drive befitting the reigning Overall GT Teams’ ‘Europe’ champion, Phoenix Racing eventually finished 10th overall (from outside the top 40) while the #46 Team WRT BMW ushered Valentino Rossi to his first 24-hour race podium in 3rd.

#ThisIsEndurance