[Creventic] Dubai 24h 2024

[erwin greven]

2024 Dubai 24 Hours postponed due to armed conflict
The 2024 endurance racing season was scheduled to begin with the 24 Hours of Dubai on January 13 and 14 at the Dubai Autodrome.

Creventic, promoter of the event, informed the teams that the meeting would be postponed for two weeks, i.e. January 27 and 28. The postponement follows the attacks currently taking place in the Red Sea.

Houthi rebels have recently launched missiles at cargo ships passing through the Suez Canal. The conflict therefore no longer allows boats to cross the canal, hence a new route which passes through South Africa.

If the new date were to be confirmed, the 2024 Dubai 24 Hours would then fall on the same weekend as the 24 Hours of Daytona, which risks causing problems for drivers registered in GT3 and who were to participate in the Rolex 24 immediately. The Heart of Racing is one of the impacted teams, with the American team entered in both races.

The 6H of Abu Dhabi is scheduled to take place on January 20 and 21, 2024, one week after the initial date of the 24H of Dubai. It is possible that teams will receive the equipment as of January 16.
The promoter tried to find a fallback solution to unload the cars and equipment in a port, but this transfer ultimately cannot be possible.

https://www.endurance-info.com/auto/art ... nflit-arme

[erwin greven]

[Everso Biggyballies]

A bit of a shame but WRT say they are out of it, preferring to stick to their original plan, skipping Dubai to keep to its original prep plan and to avoid any potential delays on the return of equipment from the event in effect interfering with the balance of the year.

Still other BMWs in the event though.

From the link in the tweet:

“Team WRT has taken the decision to withdraw from the 2024 24 Hours of Dubai,” it wrote.

“Due to the postponement of date for the event, Team WRT has withdrawn its two BMW M4 GT3 entries from the UAE race.

“With no risk of delays to kit and cars returning from Dubai, it ensures the Belgian squad respects its original preparation plan for the rest of the 2024 season. We wish the best of luck to those participating and hope to join you all again in 2025!”

The withdrawal comes after Creventic’s decision to push back the date for the event by two weeks after safety concerns around the Red Sea led to shipping delays that made it impossible to hold the race on the original Jan. 13-14 date.

Instead, it was moved to Jan. 27-28, creating a clash with the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The confirmation of WRT’s withdrawal comes less than a week after event organizers released an updated entry list, at which time the pair of BMWs was still listed as part of a 26-car GT3 grid.

An newly updated list issued by Creventic on Thursday no longer features WRT’s pair of BMWs, with the number of GT3 entries dropping to 24 as a result.

Revised Dubai entry list issued today: https://www.24hseries.com/pdf/entrylist ... dubai-2024