wikipedia wrote:The 2023 24H GT Series powered by Hankook is the eighth season of the 24H Series with drivers battling for championship points and titles and the fourteenth season since Creventic, the organiser and promoter of the series, organised multiple races a year. The races will be contested with GT3-spec cars, GT4-spec cars, sports cars and 24H-Specials, like silhouette cars.
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/2 ... 24h-dubai/Driver Lineups Set in Updated 20-Car GT3 Grid for 24H Dubai
Full entry list released for next weekend’s Hankook 24H Dubai…
A total of 20 GT3 entries from seven manufacturers are signed up to contest next weekend’s Hankook 24H Dubai.
As shown on an updated 54-car overall entry list released on Thursday, Porsche is represented by six entries, with five cars from Mercedes, four from Audi and three from BMW. Ferrari and McLaren are present on the grid with a single car each.
Defending winners Team WRT are set for its first race outing with BMW. The Belgian squad was previously confirmed to field a pair of BMW M4 GT3s, albeit with a minor tweak to the lineup for the No. 46 car headlined by Valentino Rossi.
Rossi, Tim Whale and FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 driver Sean Gelael will partner a pair of factory drivers in Maxime Martin and Max Hesse.
Defending race winners Dries Vanthoor and Mohammed Al Saud will team up with Jens Klingmann, Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer and Diego Menchaca aboard the sister No. 7 car.
A third BMW will be entered by Poulsen Motorsport and driven by Kristian Poulsen, Roland Poulsen, Kasper H. Jensen and Gustav Birch.
Team GP-Elite, which came close to winning the inaugural Hankook 12H Kuwait last year, field a single Porsche 911 GT3 R for the all-Dutch lineup of Lucas Groeneveld, Jesse van Kuijk, Daan van Kuijk and Max van Splunteren.
The Netherlands-based outfit is joined in the Porsche ranks by a previously confirmed Grove Racing effort that features Anton de Pasquale and Earl Bamber, a pair of cars from Herbert Motorsport and the Saalocin by Kox Racing squad that will see the father-daughter pairing of Peter and Stephane Kox team up with former pro cyclist Tom Boonen.
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain and Benelux champion Harry King is set for his GT3 debut aboard the No. 911 car entered by Pxre Racing that also features Sven Mueller, Joel Sturm and Alex Malykhin.
Audi is represented by entries from Sainteloc Junior Team, Phoenix Racing, Haas RT and Attempto Racing, the latter of which has yet to confirm its team of drivers.
GT4 graduate Erwan Bastard, who made his debut during the Gulf 12 Hours last December, is set for his 24-hour race debut in the No. 26 Sainteloc Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II alongside Christian Kelders, Simon Gachet and European Le Mans Series LMP3 racer Antoine Doquoin.
The No. 21 HAAS RT Audi, meanwhile, features Audi factory driver Frederic Vervisch and former Bentley ace Maxime Soulet alongside Mathieu Detry, Olivier Bertels and Benjamin Mazatis.
It should be noted that the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged operation has no affiliation with the similarly named Formula 1 operation.
The Mercedes contingent is headlined by a pair of previously announced cars from HRT as well as the SPS Automotive Performance-run Heart of Racing entry.
It is joined by single-car efforts from Dutch junior single seater squad MP Motorsport and reigning Championship of the Continents winner CP Racing.
Finally, the lone 7TSIX McLaren 720S GT3 is joined by a single Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo for French squad Visiom, the lineup of which notably features 13-time 24 Hours of Le Mans starter Christophe Tinseau.
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/2 ... otebook-5/Dubai Thursday Notebook
Sportscar365’s first notebook from the Dubai paddock ahead of the Hankook 24H Dubai…
by Davey Euwema January 12, 2023
***Track action on Thursday at the Hankook 24H Dubai consisted of a pair of private test sessions, each two and a half hours in length with one in the morning and early afternoon and the second running into the afternoon dusk. Frederic Vervisch set the fastest time of the day during the morning session, reeling off a 1:58.583 in the No. 21 HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. RESULTS: Private Test 1/Private Test 2
***The two sessions went by with few major incidents, except for an early red flag in session two caused by a crash for the No. 488 Dragon Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Leonidas Loucas, Rhea Loucas, Bradley Ellis and Charles Hollings. The car returned to the paddock on a truck with significant front-end damage.
***Track action for the event unofficially started on Tuesday with no fewer than four two-hour Track Day sessions, during which Formula 1 star Lando Norris was present in the paddock. The McLaren driver is a longtime fan of Valentino Rossi, who makes his 24H Dubai debut this weekend with Team WRT.
***Since its inception in 2006, the event has never been won by a non-German manufacturer. Porsche holds the record with six victories (2008-2010, 2014, 2017, 2021) followed by Mercedes with five and BMW and defending winners Audi with three wins each.
***The odds of this statistic changing in this year’s running of the race are very small. Just two non-German GT3 entries, one each from Ferrari and McLaren, are going up against a combined 18 cars from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche.
***The Dubai enduro runs on Saturday and Sunday for the first time this year. This is a change compared to previous years, when the race was run on Friday and Saturday in line with local weekend customs. When the United Arab Emirates changed its weekend to Saturday and Sunday for 2022, the change came too late to be implemented for last year’s event, which still saw the race start on Friday.
***A handful of driver changes were made to the entry list in recent days. LMP3 driver Dino Lunardi has been added to the lineup for the No. 2 Visiom Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, while Sainteloc Junior Team has added French GT4 racer Gregoire Demoustier to the No. 26 Audi.
***Notably, the No. 777 Al Manar Racing by HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo is now manned by a four-man crew, as Al Faisal Al Zubair’s name is no longer listed alongside Martin Konrad, Axcil Jefferies, Luca Stolz and Fabian Schiller. A team spokesperson told Sportscar365 that Al Zubair is unable to race due to health reasons.
***Alex Riberas has also been removed from the No. 27 Heart of Racing by SPS Mercedes in favor of Aston Martin factory driver Ross Gunn. “Alex had to do some stuff in Spain and we ran out of time to do that before the Roar Before the 24, so we brought Ross in,” team principal Ian James told Sportscar365. “Aston Martin gratefully agreed to let him do this race.”
***Phil Quaife returns to the lineup for the No. 85 CP Racing Mercedes after coming in as a late stand-in for the injured Joe Foster last year. With Foster also back, the American squad’s crew sports five drivers in Quaife, Foster, Shane Lewis, Charles Putman and Charles Espenlaub.
***After a one-year absence, the pre-event parade returned as the cars drove on public roads through Dubai Motor City on Wednesday. The event returns to normalcy this year after it was subject to COVID-19 restrictions in previous years.
***The 991 class, which featured three entries last year, has been disbanded for 2023. It is effectively replaced by the 992 class that made its debut in 2022. The change brings the total number of classes down from ten to nine. Teams can still enter the 991 GT3 Cup in 24H Series events, but will now be placed into the GTX class instead.
***Three championships feature on the support package for the event: the F4 UAE Championship, Formula Regional Middle East Championship and Clio Cup Middle East. While no drivers are pulling double duty, the F4 field features Jakob Bergmeister, nephew of former Porsche factory driver Joerg Bergmeister, Rubens Barrichello’s son Fernando and Nicola Lacorte, the son of Cetilar Racing’s Roberto Lacorte. IMSA podium finisher Sebastian Montoya is with Prema in the Formula Regional series.
***Two teams have cars in multiple series, with GT3 squads MP Motorsport and Sainteloc Racing also fielding several cars in the F4 UAE Championship.
***Official track action starts on Friday with a two-hour Free Practice session starting at 9:20 a.m. local time (1:20 a.m. ET). It will be followed by qualifying at 2 p.m. (4 a.m. ET). and night practice at 6 p.m. (9 a.m. ET). Activity concludes with the newly introduced Night Qualifying session from 7.10 p.m. (10.10 a.m. ET)
***The Night Qualifying session is part of a new qualifying format specifically introduced for this year’s event as an addition to regular qualifying. The grid will be set based on the average times from four sessions: two daytime sessions and the two new sessions under the lights.
***With the exception of the opening Free Practice session, all track action will be streamed live on the 24H Series YouTube channel with commentary from Radio Show Limited. The broadcast team consists of John Hindhaugh, Joe Bradley, Nick Daman, Phil Anson, Bruce Jones and Jonny Palmer.
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/2 ... ery-crash/Drama Strikes Both HRT Cars in 24H Dubai
Both Mercedes favorites hit trouble in 24H Dubai within less than an hour…
by Davey Euwema January 14, 2023
Haupt Racing Team’s hopes of success at the Hankook 24H Dubai have fallen apart after both of its cars were eliminated from contention in quick succession shortly before six hours were completed.
First, the No. 4 Abu Dhabi Racing by HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was taken out when Sebastian Baud hit the barrier at turn 14 and the car burst into flames, with Baud quickly calling for marshalls to put the fire out.
Baud had been able to climb out of the car himself and was taken to the on-site medical center to be checked.
The car, one of the favorites for victory coming into the event, had fallen down the order somewhat since the early hours and was running outside of the top ten when the incident occurred.
Less than an hour later, the remaining No. 777 Al Manar Racing Mercedes also capitulated when Luca Stolz brought the car into the garage with an unspecified technical issue.
The car had started the race from pole position with Stolz leading the race early on and had just moved into fourth place overall not long before the problem struck.
While HRT has seen its effort halted, Team WRT are leading the race 1-2 with six hours completed.
Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer is out front aboard the No. 7 BMW M4 GT3, sitting ahead of the No. 46 car in the hands of Sean Gelael.
>> WRT captured first place from the No. 21 HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. The upstart Belgian team sat at the head of the race since Tresor Attempto Racing pitted off sequence, a consequence of the chaotic round of Code 60-triggered stops in the opening phase of the race.
Once Olivier Bertels was behind the wheel of the Audi, he was caught and overtaken by Jens Klingmann, who extended the car’s advantage further before handing over to Simmenauer.
>> WRT’s No. 46 BMW survived a scare in the third hour of the race, when oil on the track surface caused Tim Whale to spin out into the barriers. The Bronze-rated driver was able to continue without major damage.
>> Behind the two BMWs, the No. 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R of Robert Renauer sits in third, with HAAS RT now fourth with Benjamin Mazatis at the wheel of the Audi.
Pure Rxcing rounds out the top five ahead of second Herberth Porsche and Poulsen Motorsport’s BMW.
>> The No. 99 Tresor Attempto Audi, which led after the first hour, was eliminated from contention when Andrey Mukovoz brought it to a halt on track, triggering another Code 60.
The GT4 class lead remains in the hands of the No. 408 ROFGO with Dragon Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the hands of Jordan Grogor, while AC Motorsport’s No. 188 Audi RS3 LMS TCR sits at the head of the TCR category.
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/2 ... 24h-dubai/Team WRT Wins Second Straight 24H Dubai
Team WRT secures victory in 24H Dubai upon first race outing with BMW…
by Davey Euwema January 15, 2023
Mohammed Al Saud, Diego Menchaca, Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer, Jens Klingmann and Dries Vanthoor gave Team WRT victory upon its BMW debut at the Hankook 24H Dubai.
Vanthoor brought the car across the line 21.7 seconds ahead of the No. 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R of Ralf Bohn, Daniel Allemann, Alfred Renauer and Robert Renauer, which made a late fuel stop from the lead with 20 minutes to go.
After starting from seventh position, the No. 7 BMW M4 GT3 first hit the front in the opening hour thanks to a charging stint from Vanthoor before it dropped behind the No. 21 HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II following a shuffling of the pack in a pair of early Code 60s.
With Klingmann at the wheel of the BMW, it caught and overtook HAAS RT’s Olivier Bertels early in the race’s fourth hour to recapture the overall lead.
As early frontrunners Haupt Racing Team capitulated with both cars falling by the wayside on Saturday evening, Herberth Motorsport’s No. 91 Porsche became WRT’s main challenger for victory.
After Herberth closed down the gap slightly overnight, the Porsche first moved into the lead of the race with six hours to go when WRT performed a scheduled pitstop.
This triggered a phase of the contest where the two cars regularly swapped places as pitstops cycled through.
After Herberth initially seemed to grab the upper hand with a lead of well over a minute, a strong stint from Vanthoor saw the BMW rapidly claw back ground against Allemann.
Minutes later, the strategic battle swung into WRT’s favor when Herberth seemingly mistimed a fuel stop while pitting under Code 60 triggered by a stoppage for the No. 19 MP Motorsport Mercedes with four hours to go.
The No. 91 Porsche was left at the refueling station as the race was resumed, while Vanthoor had already rejoined the circuit. This gave WRT a lead of roughly 25 seconds, which appeared to be enough for victory.
However, Herberth gambled on a short scheduled final stop in the final hour to gain track position and Robert Renauer emerged on track some 13 seconds ahead of Vanthoor.
The BMW factory driver closed up the gap to Renauer with the clock counting down, but saw his way to first place cleared when Renauer made a late splash for fuel under Code 60 with 20 minutes remaining on the clock.
The win is Team WRT’s second consecutive win in the Dubai enduro, while delivering BMW its first event victory since 2011. It is also the first time the M4 GT3 has won a 24-hour race.
The sister No. 46 car of Tim Whale, Valentino Rossi, Sean Gelael, Max Hesse and Maxime Martin completed the overall podium.
Brenton Grove, Stephen Grove, Anton De Pasquale and Earl Bamber finished fourth in the No. 10 Grove Porsche, with HAAS RT’s No. 21 Audi of Bertels, Maxime Soulet, Mathieu Detry, Benjamin Mazatis and Frederic Vervisch fifth on the team’s race debut.
Herberth’s No. 92 Porsche driven by Jason Hart, Elliot Skeer, Adam Adelson and Seth Lucas came home in sixth, ahead of GP-Elite’s No. 32 car.
Heart of Racing by SPS claimed eight place overall, with CP Racing taking the GT3 Am class victory with ninth place.
Christer Joens, Michael Doppelmayr, Pierre Kaffer and Elia Erhart completed the top ten in the No. 1 Phoenix Racing Audi.
After starting the race with both cars on the front row, Haupt Racing Team was forced to retire both cars well before the halfway point of the race. The No. 4 Abu Dhabi Racing by HRT Mercedes was eliminated when Sebastian Baud crashed at turn 14 in an impact that saw the car burst into flames.
Not much later, Luca Stolz brought the polesitting No. 777 Al Manar Racing car into the garage with suspension failure that the team opted not to repair.
Two of Audi’s strongest entries from Sainteloc Junior Team and Tresor Attempto Racing were similarly withdrawn from the race after encountering issues.
Class victory in the 992 class went to the No. 962 Fach Auto Tech Porsche 992 GT3 Cup of Alexander Schwarzer, Gabriel Rindone, Larry ten Voorde, Matthias Hoffsuemmer and Huub van Eijndhoven, with the No. 925 Huber Motorsport Porsche taking 992 Am honors.
Razoon – More Than Racing took a commanding win in GTX with their No. 714 KTM X-Bow GTX, while the No. 408 ROFGO with Dragon Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Roald Goethe, Oliver Goethe, Benjamin Goethe, Stuart Hall and Jordan Grogor dominated GT4.
The Dubai-based squad ran a near-flawless race, finishing ahead of the No. 438 Simpson Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 of James Kell, Cameron MacLeod, Keith Kassulke, David Holloway and Vasily Vladykin. Century Motorsport’s BMW completed the podium.
The victory in TCR was taken by the No. 188 AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS TCR of Stephane Perrin, Yannick Mettler, Miklas Born and Sam Dejonghe with a margin of 70 laps over the No. 117 Wolf-Power Racing Audi of Marcus Menden, Marlon Menden, Rob Huff and Peter Posavac.
RESULTS: Hankook 24H Dubai
