Dubai, UAE (12 January 2025):
Omani entered squad AlManar Racing by Team WRT delivered a fabulous victory in the opening race of the 24H SERIES Middle East Trophy, the Michelin 24H DUBAI, at Dubai Autodrome this afternoon – the No.777 BMW M4 GT3 EVO claiming success by a full lap. 

Always in the battle at the front from the beginning of the race at 13.00 on Saturday, 11 January, team-mates Max Hesse, Al Faisal Al Zubair, Daniel Harper, Ben Tuck and Darren Leung combined to deliver a famous win, which was the fourth success at the 24H DUBAI for Team WRT.

“I’m super, super stoked – it’s a mega win, big, big thank you to the team and BMW”, said a delighted Hesse, “We didn’t really win on pace, but we won on strategy and good execution which is down to the team. We were not the quickest, but we were quick enough!”

Second place went to Pure Rxcing’s pole-qualifying No.92 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), shared by Thomas Preining, Harry King, Alexey Nesov and Alex Malykhin. During the final laps the car had to slow significantly to conserve fuel but still finished runner-up.

Dinamic GT’s No.24 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), piloted by Loek Hartog, Klaus Bachler, Anders Fjordbach, Thomas Kiefer and Stanislav Minsky, rounded-out the overall podium and was just 15 seconds away from usurping Pure Rxcing.

In GT3 Am Paradine Competition won with its No.991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO in fifth overall, driven by Darren Leung, who doubled-up alongside his No.777 BMW commitments, Ahmad Al Harthy, Toby Sowery and Simon Traves. Pro-Am victory went to the No.91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) of Alfred Renauer, Robert Renauer, Jake Pedersen, Kay van Berlo and Ralf Bohn in seventh.

Red Camel-Jordans.nl won the 992 class in its Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992), with brothers Rik and Luc Breukers, father Ivo Breukers and Fabian Danz, following a battle race-long with the No.912 Tierra Outdoor Racing by HWM of Huub and Lucas van Eijndhoven, Ralph Poppelaars and Jop Rappange.

GTX was dominated throughout by Leipert Motorsport’s No.710 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO piloted by Brendon Leitch, Don Yount, JJ Song, Takis and Gerhard Watzinger. In GT4 the AGMC Racing by Simpson Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (G82), featuring Ramez Azzam, William Tewiah, Timothy Docker, Tudor Tudurachi and Tiger Tari, won after the squad’s two main rivals retired. 

In TCE-TCX, AsBest Racing took a clear win with its No.101 Seat Leon Cup Racer in the hands of Pia Ohlsson, Christian Ladurner, Thomas Alpiger, Mohammed Al Owais and Nadir Zuhour. 

The Spirit of the Race award, meanwhile, was presented in the final hour of the encounter to the incredibly deserving Razoon – More Than Racing squad. With its No.414 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS seemingly out of the race, a herculean effort and never-give-up attitude from the team enabled the car shared by Ajith Kumar, Dominik Olbert and Leo Pichler to rejoin and finish fourth in GT4.

GT3:
Having qualified on pole position, Pure Rxcing’s No.92 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) made a textbook getaway at the rolling start of the race at 13.00 local time on Saturday, 11 January, to lead in the hands of Alexey Nesov. Behind, Pro-Am pole starter Gabriele Piana wasn’t satisfied to remain second and he placed the No.16 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO on the outside to Turn One.

Dueling door handle-to-door handle through the first few corners, the Mercedes boldly swept past the Porsche and the duo were soon joined by the Am class No.991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Paradine Competition which surged from eighth to third after a stunning start from Toby Sowery.

Within a handful of laps Sowery had taken the lead from Pure Rxcing and he soon had another BMW in his mirrors, the No.777 entry of AlManar Racing by Team WRT with Max Hesse at the wheel. On lap 28 Hesse made his move to slice past into the race lead.

Following the first couple of Code 60 cautionary periods, in hour three Sergey Stolyarov held the overall and Pro-Am lead in the Winward Racing car ahead of the No.24 Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) which had started to hit its stride, Thomas Kiefer driving.

Dragon Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 was soon ahead of the Porsche and Mercedes-AMG into the lead, with Dustin Blattner at the wheel, and as evening arrived in Dubai the two BMWs of AlManar Racing and Paradine returned to first and second as the differing strategies played out. 

Five hours in, the BMWs had been replaced at the front by the Pure Rxcing and Dinamic GT Porsches and the bidders for overall victory started to solidify their respective challenges as the evening wore on. By the halfway point of the race, at 01.00 local time on Sunday morning, Klaus Bachler was on top for Dinamic GT from Al Faisal Al Zubair in the No.777 BMW M4 GT3, and Pure Rxcing’s Nesov. 

During the small hours the fight for supremacy very much came down to a straight battle between the Dinamic GT and Pure Rxcing Porsches and the BMWs of AlManar Racing and Paradine, and so it continued into daylight and towards the conclusion.

Dramatically, with less than 40 minutes of the race to go, the second placed No.102 TCE-TCX class Cupra TCR DSG of AsBest Racing stopped on track and led to a late Code 60 period which threatened to throw a spanner in the works for some. 

Second placed Thomas Preining also had to save fuel late on, putting the position at risk for Pure Rxcing, but in the end he managed to seal it by 15 seconds from Loek Hartog in the Dinamic GT Porsche. Ahead, Hasse in the No.777 BMW M4 serenely took the chequered flag a lap clear. 

Due to a late stop and issue with a flailing strap, which had been put in place earlier to hold some damaged bodywork in position, Winward’s challenge for Pro-Am victory ebbed away and the No.91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) came through to seal the class win. 

992:
SebLajoux Racing’s No. 992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) started from the 992 class pole, with Paul Meijer at the wheel, and he stormed into a good lead from the No.909 Red Camel-Jordans.nl car of Rik Breukers – the latter entry having lost pole position due to a two place grid penalty.

Huub van Eijndhoven brought the No.912 Tierra Outdoor Racing by HWM Porsche into contention within the first couple of hours, but the No.992 entry pressed on in the lead. Before one quarter race distance, though, the challenge of the SebLajoux Racing No.992 car began to slip away. 

Conversely, the Red Camel-Jordans.nl Porsche and the Tierra Outdoor Racing by HWM car traded the lead through the pit-stops and their challenge strengthened – also joined by the No.901 Ajith Kumar Racing by BKR Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992).

Throughout the night and into Sunday morning the leaders bolstered their positions and Red Camel-Jordans.nl, the reigning Middle East Trophy Champions in 992, overcame a few minor issues to take the race victory well over a minute clear with Rik Breukers at the wheel at the flag. 

Second position was claimed by the equally competitive Tierra Outdoor Racing by HWM squad, with Ajith Kumar Racing by BKR completing the 992 podium with Cameron Mcleod, Mathieu Detry, Fabian Duffleux and Kumar himself. 

Qatari entry QMMF by HRT, featuring Abdulla Ali Al Khelaifi, Ghanim Al Ali, Ibrahim Al Abdulghani and Julian Hanses, enjoyed a particularly strong and consistent second part of the race to claim Am class victory in 992 by just over a minute.

GT4:
Team CMR’s No.495 Ginetta G56 GT4 EVO qualified on the GT4 class pole position, but at the start Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No.470 WS Racing BMW M4 GT4 moved into the lead – the Ginetta slipping out of the top three. As the early hours passed, the No.427 SRS Team Sorg Rennsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS took its turn at the front before WS Racing led again in hour five.

In the hands of Nico Prost the Ginetta moved back up the order, before the No.427 encountered trouble in hour six – the Porsche 718 Cayman tagged by a GT3 car, resulting in damage and a visit to the pits for repaired suspension.

Team CMR and WS Racing ran first and second in class in hour seven but as the race arrived at one third distance, major drama ensued for the latter when, with Emely de Heus driving, the car expired in flames and retired from the race. 

As the contest approached mid-distance the Ginetta G56 GT4 looked well set for victory – even with well over half the race to go – but the drama wasn’t over. During the small hours of Sunday, the Team CMR car was also a victim of a break-out of fire as hopes of success went up in smoke.

Through it all came the No.438 BMW M4 GT4 (G82) of AGMC Racing by Simpson Motorsport, taking a clear victory from the No.427 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS of Gero Bauknecht, Tommy Graberg, Harley Houghton and Arthur Simondet. Third went to the No.496 Continental TTR Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO of Dimity Levin, Marat Gubaydullin, Konstantin Mandrikov and Viktor Agafonov.

GTX, TCE-TCX:
Leipert Motorsport’s No.710 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO was the class of the field in GTX and, coupled with the rapid Brendon Leitch, the package proved unstoppable. Leitch starred in qualifying and was every bit as quick in race conditions, building a very strong early lead.

Going on to dominate, Leitch and team-mates Don Yount, JJ Song, Takis and Gerhard Watzinger finished the race just outside the top 30 overall and 37 laps clear of the second placed IRC GT of 111 Racing in the hands of Darren Currie, Grant Donaldson, Jake Camilleri and Mark Griffith. The IRC GT squad never gave up, battling a variety of issues on its 24H SERIES debut.

As in GTX, the TCE-TCX class looked set for a dominant performance throughout from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport’s Porsche Cayman GT4 CS (Type 982) but it all went wrong for the No.127 around 23.00 local time on Saturday when the car retired after a Turn Seven incident.

Opening the way for AsBest Racing’s No.101 Seat Leon Cup Racer, the venerable touring car-style challenger duly took the lead and ultimately claimed victory in the hands of Pia Ohlsson, Christian Ladurner, Thomas Alpiger, Mohammed Al Owais and Nadir Zuhour.

Race two of the 24H SERIES Middle East Trophy, the concluding round of the series, takes place at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi next Sunday, 19 January – the Michelin 6H ABU DHABI.