GENNEP (23 December, 2022) – CREVENTIC is gearing up for the 18th edition of the Hankook 24H DUBAI on 13-14-15 January, and is proud to announce that close to 60 teams and more than 180 different drivers have already been confirmed.
Interest has continued to flood in for CREVENTIC’s biggest annual endurance event during the year, with the 2023 edition already boasting entries from 16 different nations. A provisional entry list that includes former and reigning outright winners of the Hankook 24H DUBAI, as well as luminaries from the world of motorsport, including MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi.
Peter Freij, CREVENTIC operational manager: “The Hankook 24H DUBAI is one of our favourite events every season, given the heritage of our annual 24-hour race at the Dubai Autodrome and the calibre of competition the event draws in every year. For the 18th edition, we’re very proud to have such a rich entry list that includes former winners and high-profile names from the wider world of motorsport. We’re confident this year’s Hankook 24H DUBAI could be among the most impressive we’ve seen since the inaugural running in 2006.”
o MotoGP G.O.A.T. Valentino Rossi to make 24H SERIES debut with Team WRT.
o 2022 winners Dries Vanthoor, Mohammed Saud Fahad Al Saud and Axcil Jefferies aiming for another win.
o 2017 World Endurance Champion Earl Bamber makes maiden 24H SERIES outing with Grove Racing.
Reigning European Trophy GT winner Phoenix Racing (#1) will hope to start its 2023 season with a strong result in Dubai, and has confirmed 2022 GT Drivers’ ‘European’ champions Michael Doppelmayr, Pierre Kaffer and Elia Erhart will be joined by Christer Jöns, who finished on the overall GT podium in 2016.
Newly-crowned Continents Trophy GT winner CP Racing (#85) has also confirmed its attendance, and will hope to emulate its GT3-AM win with former Overall GT Drivers’ champions Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub and Joe Foster, and Daytona 24 Hours class winner Shane Lewis. The American quartet will be joined by Britain’s Philip Quaife, who will be looking for his sixth class win at the Hankook 24H DUBAI on his 14th entry
Two-time event winner Team WRT boasts one of the most scintillating driver line-ups in the first race for its new BMW M4 GT3s. Seven-time 500cc / MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi will make his 24H SERIES debut aboard the team’s #46 M4 alongside Sean Gelael, Tim Whale, and 2016 Spa 24 Hours winner Maxime Martin. In the sister #7 BMW, 2022 Hankook 24H DUBAI winners Dries Vanthoor and Mohammed Saud Fahad Al Saud return for their second attempts at victory alongside Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer, with two further drivers for each car to be confirmed in due course.
The eponymous team of three-time Hankook 24H DUBAI winner Hubert Haupt – Haupt Racing Team – will look to emulate its class win and overall podium at the 2021 edition. The team boss will compete alongside fellow three-time winner (and the UAE’s own) Khaled Al Qubaisi, Sébastian Baud and two-time Spa 24 Hours winner, Jules Gounon.
Back for its second Hankook 24H DUBAI outing in affiliation with Haupt Racing Team, Al Manar Racing (#777) will hope to improve on its 5th place overall in 2022. Mercedes-AMG factory driver Luca Stolz will be joined in the Omani team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 by Al Faisal Al Zubair, Fabian Schiller, Martin Konrad, and Zimbabwe’s Axcil Jefferies. The latter will be gunning for his third overall event win in 2023.
2017 Hankook 24H DUBAI winner Herberth Motorsport has confirmed its traditional #91 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for team principals Alfred and Robert Renauer, Daniel Allemann and Ralf Bohn. The Bavarian team has also registered a second Porsche (#92) for GT4 America frontrunners Jason Hart, Adam Adelson, Seth Lucas, and Elliot Skeer.
Visiom is set to compete in its first Hankook 24H DUBAI since 2014, and will do so with the sole Ferrari 488 GT3 on the grid. Team owner Jean-Paul Pagny, an A5-class winner in 2012, will partner with French countrymen Jean-Bernard Bouvet, David Hallyday, Christophe Tinseau, and 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Stéphane Ortelli.
A TCE regular, Belgium’s Mathieu Detry will take on the Hankook 24H DUBAI alongside 2020 Bathurst 12 Hours winner Maxime Soulet and Olivier Bertels in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 entered by Antigua and Barbuda’s HAAS RT (#21). Heading to the UAE in January from similarly further afield, Australia’s Grove Racing (#10) will team Grove father-and-son Stephen and Brenton, Australian Supercars race winner Anton De Pasquale, and 2017 World Endurance Champion Earl Bamber.
Denmark’s Poulsen Motorsport (#14) impressed on its series return at the 2022 Hankook 24H BARCELONA – its first series start in eight years – and will hope for an equally successful run in the UAE with team bosses Kristian and Roland Poulsen, Kasper H. Jensen and Gustav Birch. Pure Rxcing (#911) is set to make its series debut with Porsche factory driver Sven Müller confirmed alongside Joel Sturm, Alex Malykhin and British young gun, Harry King.
Jesse and Daan van Kuijk, Max van Splunteren and Lucas Groeneveld will look to put a luckless run at the Hankook 12H KUWAIT behind Team GP-Elite (#32) in Dubai with the Dutch team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R. Compatriot Jaap van Lagen meanwhile spearheads an all-Dutch driver line-up for 2022 GT3-Pro/Am class winner MP Motorsport alongside Henk and Daniel de Jong, and Bert de Heus.
Back for its first series outing since the 2022 Hankook 6H ABU DHABI, Saalocin by Kox Racing (#48) features team principal – and former Le Mans class winner – Peter Kox alongside his daughter Stéphane, Dennis Retera and Nico Pronk aboard the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R. Fellow returnee Saintéloc Junior Team (#26) are looking for a successful series race with Christian Kelders and Simon Gachet at the helm of the French squad’s Audi R8 LMS GT3.
Heart of Racing rounds out the GT3 entries thus far with its collaborative entry with former A6-Am class winner SPS performance (#27). Heart of Racing, which finished 2nd in GT4 this past January, will partner team principal Ian James with team regulars Roman De Angelis, Alex Riberas and Gray Newell.
o Class staples HRT Performance, MRS GT-Racing and FACH AUTO TECH among ‘992’ frontrunners.
o Former 991 class champion Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors continues 992 transition in Dubai.
o 2015 24H SERIES champion Duel Racing makes Porsche Cup return with Toro Verde.
2022 992-AM class winner HRT Performance will make its ninth consecutive start at the Hankook 24H DUBAI in 2023, doing so with up to FIVE Porsche 992 GT3 Cups!
While the line-up for the German team’s affiliation with the Qatar Motor & Motorcycle Federation has not yet been finalized, Holger Harmsen will make his eighth event start alongside Mikael Pitamber and the returning Fidel Leib in HRT’s #931 entry. Michael Blanchemain, Franck Leherpeur, Stephane Adle, Jérôme Da Costa and Jim Pla round out an all-French #932 line-up, while series staples Gijs Bessem and Harry Hilders will partner up with Bob Herber in an HRT-operated Porsche 992 GT3 Cup run under the ‘NKPP’ banner (#928).
Fellow Hankook 24H DUBAI regular, and former 991-Pro class winner, FACH AUTO TECH will be looking to forget memories of a tough 2022 event with its two-car line-up. Peter Hegglin, Jan Klingelnberg, Christof Langer and Christopher Zöchling will race alongside team owner Alexander Fach in the #961 entry, while Alexander Schwarzer, Gabriele Rindone, Larry ten Voorde, and Matthias Hoffsümmer team together in the sister #962 Porsche.
Long-time rival MRS GT-Racing will similarly be looking to secure its eighth category podium in January, having registered three Porsche 992 GT3 Cups for the 18th edition. Lithuanian compatriots Arunas Geciauskas and Sigitas Ambrazevicius will be joined by Estonia’s Antti Rammo in the #988 entry, while German compatriots Alex Herbst, Andy Gülden and Marc Henerici will team with the USA’s Peter Pejacsevich in the sister #990 Porsche. The German outfit’s #989 line-up will be confirmed soon.
Former CUP1 champion DUWO Racing will field a multi-car effort in Dubai, in collaboration with SebLajoux Racing. Sebastien Lajoux himself heads an all-French line-up in the #908 Porsche alongside Lionel Rigaud, Jean-Christophe David and Mathys Jaubert, while historics racer Gislain Genecand teams with Alexandre De Bernardinis and motocross specialist Xavier Michel in the #907 992 GT3 Cup.
Duel Racing (#995) continues its affiliation with Toro Verde on home turf in January. Foregoing the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 the team ran last year with TF Sport, the 2015 24H SERIES champion will instead aim for a second class win with a Porsche Cup car, and aligns Moutran brothers Ramzi, Nabil and Sami with former GT World Challenge Europe Pro-Am champion, Phil Keen.
Following their maiden 992-class outing in Kuwait, 2021 991 Drivers’ champions Fabrizio Broggi, Sergiu Nicolae and Sabino de Castro continue their 2022-2023 Middle East Trophy campaign with Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors (#955), while Huber Motorsport (#925) teams Stefan Aust with Hans Wehrmann, Klaus Rader, and Steffen Görig.
Former 992 and SPX Teams’ champion Speed Lover (#979) rounds out the 992 entries thus far, and returns to action in Dubai with a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup for Simon Balcaen, Steven Palette, Philippe Wils, and Chris Maes
o Leipert Motorsport and Vortex continue GTX tussle.
o Second-generation BMW M4 among GT4 favourites.
o Hometown heroes Dragon Racing to compete with ROFGO dynasty.
Reigning GTX Teams’ champion Leipert Motorsport (#710) has registered its Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo for the Hankook 24H DUBAI, and has already confirmed team regular Gregg Gorski on its driver line-up. The German team is set to continue its long-standing rivalry with French independent Vortex, which has registered two of its bespoke Vortex 1.0 lightweight sportscars for Dubai. Lionel Amrouche, who recently entered his 50th CREVENTIC event at this year’s Hankook 12H KUWAIT, headlines the #701 line-up alongside Philippe Gruau, Cyril Calmon and team staple Philippe Bonnel, while Nicolas Nobs will race the sister #702 alongside Philippe Fretoret, Lucas Sugliano and Miguel Moiola.
Having made its series return at Kuwait Motor Town, razoon-more than racing (#714) continues its Middle East Trophy campaign in Dubai. Team boss Dominik Olbert and KTM factory driver Daniel Drexel will compete as part of an all-Austrian line-up alongside Leo Pichler, Bob Bau, and Ernst Kirchmayr, the latter of whom will make his first Hankook 24H DUBAI start since 2015.
Across in GT4, the UAE’s Dragon Racing headlines the category with two Mercedes-AMG GT4s. The multi-time Hankook 24H DUBAI winner, based at the Dubai Autodrome, will field ROFGO founder Roald Goethe alongside his sons Oliver and Benjamin in the #408 Mercedes in the trio’s first endurance race together. Goethe father and sons will be joined by Jordan Grogor and former World Endurance Championship LMGTE-Am title winner, Stuart Hall.
Dragon Racing’s sister #488 meanwhile will be driven by 2015 SP3 class winner Bradley Ellis, British Endurance Championship frontrunner Charles Hollings, and Rhea and Leonidas Loucas, the latter on their series return.
Former Hankook 24H DUBAI class winner Century Motorsport (#429) will debut its brand-new, second-generation BMW M4 GT4 in Dubai, doing so with Michael Johnston, Chris Salkeld, Carl Cavers and Lewis Plato at the helm. The British team has also registered a first-gen M4 in a collaborative entry with RHC Jorgensen-Strom (#450), to be driven by team principals Daren Jorgensen and Brett Strom, Danny van Dongen, and Century boss Nathan Freke.
The returning Simpson Motorsport (#438) has also confirmed a brand-new BMW M4 GT4 for Dubai, for which British Touring Car Championship legend James Kaye will be among its drivers.
o 2012 World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff back in action in Dubai.
o Two-car line-ups for Wolf-Power Racing and AC Motorsport.
o France’s 700 Miles back for 24 hours.
After a tough 2022, three-time Overall TCE Teams’ champion Wolf-Power Racing will hope for a rejuvenated 2023 season with its two Audi RS 3 LMS’. 2012 World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff is set to lead the team’s #117 entry alongside Marcus and Marlon Menden, and Peter Posavac, while Jasmin Preisig and Ivars Vellers will continue the team’s Middle East Trophy campaign aboard the #121 Audi with Calle Bergman and Andreas Höfler.
Long-time TCE rival AC Motorsport has similarly confirmed a two-Audi line-up for the Hankook 24H DUBAI, with team mainstay Stéphane Perrin confirmed in the #188 Audi RS 3 LMS alongside 2019 TCE Drivers’ ‘Continents’ champion Yannick Mettler and touring car specialist Vincent Radermecker. The sister #199 RS 3 DSG meanwhile reunites AC Motorsport’s all-Singapore line-up – Andy Yan, Tommy Ku, David Lau, and Shaun Thong – that debuted at the 2022 Hankook 24H PORTIMAO.
700 Miles (#106) is set to make its first 24H SERIES start since Portimão with Thierry Chkondali, Marc Girard, Michel Sallenbach, Jordan Mougenot and Fabian Duffieux at the wheel of the French team’s Volkswagen Golf GTi.
Entries remain open for the Hankook 24H DUBAI, official on-track action for which begins with two hours of Free Practice on Friday 13 January. This will be followed later that evening by qualifying sessions for both the GT and TCE divisions. At 15.00 hrs on Saturday 14 January, the green flag will drop for the 18th Hankook 24H DUBAI itself, with the race scheduled to run uninterrupted until 15.00 hrs on Sunday 15 January. Further details can be found HERE.
