DUBAI (13 January, 2022) – Les Deux Arbres has secured outright TCE pole position at the Hankook 24H DUBAI in a session that saw front row starter LAMERA GT involved in a collision moments before the chequered flag was brought out. 

In a successful maiden outing for CREVENTIC’s new three-tier qualifying session, which now features three drivers per car competing during qualifying, the Les Deux Arbres Ligier JS2 R (#202, Steve Zacchia / Patrick Zacchia / Jack Leconte / Antoine Lepesqueux / Christophe Bouchut) was among the pacesetters from the get-go, lapping just half a second slower than the LAMERA GT (#222, Wilfried Merafina / Pierre Couasnon / Grégory Fargier / Franck Dezoteux) before moving into provisional pole position during the second session. 

A 2m 09.278s lap from Christophe Bouchut around the 5.39km Dubai Autodrome was the quickest lap of TCE qualifying during the final session, securing a 2m 09.724s average for the French team and a maiden 24H SERIES pole position for Les Deux Arbres as a result. LAMERA GT fell just half-a-second shy of the top spot and will start 2nd. 

A storming final run from 2012 World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff elevated reigning Overall TCE Teams’ champion Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing (#116, Marcus Menden / Marlon Menden / Peter Posavac / Rob Huff / Alex Morgan) to TCR-class pole position and the second row of the TCE division. In a bizarre moment, the Audi RS 3 LMS managed to make contact with LAMERA GT during the latter’s final flying lap, the damaged French sports car nevertheless securing its front row starting spot despite crabbing its way back to the pits thereafter. 

Amazingly, though the team’s new Audi RS 3 LMS qualified 3rd overall in TCE, the sister Volkswagens of reigning Overall TCE Teams’ champion Autorama Motorsport could only manage 10th (#111, Constantin Kletzer / Jasmin Preisig / Paul Sieljes / Fabian Danz) and 11th (#112, Henry Littig / Antti Rammo / Vytenis Gulbinas / Gustavo Xavier / Alex Morgan) overall in the division. 

The BBR CUPRA TCR (#159, Kantadhee Kusiri / Kantasak Kusiri / Anusorn Asiralertsir / Tanart Sathienthirakul / Pasarit Promsombat) will line up 4th overall with the second fastest time in the TCR class, and is set to start just ahead of the AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS (#188, Stephane Perrin / Mathieu Detry / Miklas Born / Yannick Mettler). The Belgian team is a former TCE winner of the Hankook 24H DUBAI in 2020, but has already lost its second entry this weekend following an accident during private testing. 

The first of two CTF Performance Ligier JS2 Rs at the Dubai Autodrome (#295, Gilles Poret / Nicolas Beraud / Fabien Delaplace / Laurent Piguet) was the third fastest runner in TCX, and will start 6th overall just ahead of LAMERA GT LUX (#223, Tommy Rollinger / Sébastien Guignard / Mattéo Mérafina / Thomas Merafina) and fellow Ligier runner, Orhes Racing (#207, José Fernandes / Franck Dallavalle / Rocco Spano / Benjamin Riviere / Micael Costa).

Ahead of Autorama Motorsport’s own duo of Volkswagens, the returning Holmgaard Motorsport (#102, Magnus Holmgaard / Sam Neary / Thomas Sørensen / Jonas Holmgaard / Andie Stokoe) will start 9th with its own Golf GTi. 

Zengő Motorsport (#133, 'KISMA' / Tamás Horváth / Csaba Tóth / Szabolcs Gál / Zoltán Zengő) makes its ninth start in the Hankook 24H DUBAI this weekend, but failed to set a lap time at all during qualifying following a suspected drivetrain issue early on. Series debutant PPM meanwhile (#103, Christian Ladurner / Mohamed Al Owais / Marco Santamaria / Nadir Zuhour) also failed to set a lap as the German team continues its Herculean efforts to repair the damaged CUPRA TCR after its collision with Herberth Motorsport yesterday. 

The green flag for the 2022 Hankook 24H DUBAI is scheduled to fly on Friday 14 January at 15.00 hrs local time, with the race running uninterrupted throughout the night until the chequered flag is unfurled at 15.00 hrs on Saturday 15 January. The action will be live with commentary from radiolemans.com on the official 24H SERIES YouTube channel. Regular updates will also be published on Twitter (@24HSeries), Facebook (24H Series) and Instagram (24H Series). Further information can be found HERE.