Once again we can wish you not only a Happy New Year but also the best wishes for an imminent new season as next weekend brings the the first 24-hour race of a seemingly ever longer racing year!
For 2015 though, the season starting 24 hours of Dubai adopts a new title courtesy of its new title sponsor and sole tyre supplier Hankook.
It’s slightly disconcerting for this increasingly grey-haired reporter to note that this seemingly still new endurance race is now celebrating its 10th anniversary!
It does so as the opening event of a brand-new International championship after the race organisers and promoters, Creventic applied to the FIA for championship status. The race this year is a featured event in the “Dubai Shopping Festival” and features free entry for spectators throughout.
Following the race should be simple once again with full Radio Le Mans coverage on the web.
The opening round then will feature a packed entry currently listing no fewer than 95 cars.
Of those 26 are in the lead A6 class – GT3 in international parlance.
As is the norm with a large GT3 grid there is plenty of variety, with eight different manufacturers products featured.
The class is numerically dominated by Mercedes-Benz with 12 of the 26 cars carrying the three pointed star.
Amongst them is the crack Black Falcon team which is once again fielding a pair of SLS GT3 with very convincing driver lineups.
The #2 car features BMW refugee and long time Dubai 24 Hours front runner abdulaziz al Faisal, the Saudi prince teamed with Hubert Haupt, Oliver Webb and Yelmer Buurman.
The #3 car meanwhile is again entered under the Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon banner with double winners Khaled Al Qubaisi and Jeroen Bleekemolen teamed with 2013 victor Bernd Schneider and Andreas Simonsen.
Both cars should be firmly in the mix.
There are star names elsewhere in Mercedes land with several of the teams though fielding Am Pro rather than Pro Am efforts.
Not so though for the very welcome return of RAM Racing. Dan Shufflebottom has got the band back together to field a very pretty metallic red and silver SLS (seen here testing before the full livery was applied).
The #30 car features Tom Onslow Cole, 2012 Dubai 24 Hours winner Thomas Jaeger and Adam Christodoulou alongside the team owner.
Look out too for the #10 GT Russian effort which includes Marko Asmer, Lance David Arnold in the #33 SPS automotive performance car, Vincent Radermecker in the #6 Gravity International car (which also features Lotus F1 Team Principal Gerard Lopez and Genii Capital partner Eric Lux) and Duncan Huisman in the 67 GDL racing SLS.
Porsche are the next most numerically significant marque with five cars on the grid.
These include the car that bears #1 from Stadler Motorsport, the Swiss team emerging as unlikely winners of the 2014 race after an astonishingly clean run. Christian Engelhardt again adds punch for the teams 2015 efforts.
Fach Auto Tech enter a pair of 997 GT3Rs with the #12 car looking the more likely to provide real pace. Martin Ragginger will see to that – though the originally slated Connor de Phillippi has now disappeared from the entry!
There are a trio of Ferraris, though no return this year for AF Corse.
The #4 car of Scuderia Praha includes Peter Kox and Matteo Mallucelli in the lineup. The #15 car of Glorax Racing has Isaac Tutumlu and ex FIA GT3 Champ Dimitri Deverikos amongst their number.
Amongst the fancied runners though will be the #88 Ferrari of Dragon Racing, the team based locally, know the track very well indeed and have opted to concentrate their efforts on a single car entry, Their second provisional entry has been withdrawn.
Matt Griffin, Rob Barff, Jordan Grogor and Mohammed Jawa should go well.
A pair of Lamborghinis are entered, one apiece for Gulf Racing and Liepert Motorsports. The #69 Gulf entry should entertain with pro drivers Stuart Hall and 2007 overall winner Jamie Campbell Walter.
There are single car entries featuring BMW, Corvettes, Nissan, and Aston Martin.
All four are familiar teams with some familiar names in the lineups.
BMW are represented this year by Triple 8 with Lee Mowle joined by Joe Osborne and Charlie Hollings. Jacques Duvyer completes the lineup.
V8 Racing set the pole position last year in their ex-GT1 Corvette. Nikki Pastorelli is back again this year to see whether he can produce a repeat performance. Miguel Ramos will add further punch to the effort.
Bob Neville’s role in developing the now widely recognised talents of the Nissan GT Academy graduates should not be underestimated and the wily old Fox is back again, This time with a full house GT3 spec GTR Nissan, to try out the latest batch of GT Academy winners.
Florian Strauss (2013 GT Academy Germany winner) anchors the effort with Ricardo Sanchez (GT Academy International winner), Nicholas Hamman (GT Academy North America Winner), Gaetan Paletou (GT Academy European Winner) and Ahmed bin Khanen (Middle East GT Academy Winner) completing the line up.
Last but far from least in the A6 class is the Aston Martin entry, this year from KPM Racing, Kevin Poole’s team running the V12 Vantage GT3 of Paul White who will be joined by AMR factory men Stefan Muecke and Jonny Adam. Another lineup that should not be overlooked.
Beyond the lead class there is much else to consider including a much expanded 997 class for Porsche Cup cars. There are no fewer than 18 listed, a mix of 997 and 991 based cars.
Amongst that number there are several well-known teams and drivers:
Lechner Racing also know this track well and have opted to race not the Bentley GT3 that contests the local GT championship but instead a 991 Cup for a lineup that includes Porsche Supercup and FIA WEC regular Klaus Bachler and fellow Supercup contender Jaap van Lagen.
Black Falcon (who have a revised entry for their #26 car now including Patrick Huisman), MRS GT, Speedlover, HRT performance and GDL Racing each enter a pair of cars apiece in the class with regular contenders Ruffier Racing and Welch Motorsport fielding a car apiece, the former including 2009 overall winner Gabriel Abergel on the crew, the latter (seen below at last month’s Gulf 12 Hours) for BTCC regular Dan Welch and British GT racer Jake Giddings with fellow Gulf 12 Hours team member young South African talent Liam Venter and current Australian F3 Champion and GT racing newcomer Simon Hodge now confirmed as completing the 4 man lineup.
Two major classes down and we’re still not even halfway down the entry list!
A new look SP2 class gives a home for the now well known Australian built MARC Focus V8s (below). Three are entered here in a class that also includes one of the GC V8 powered silhouette cars and a Maserati Gran Turismo for Boutsen Ginion that includes long time FIA GT Gillet Vertigo racer Renaud Kuppens amongst the lineup.
SP3 includes the GT4 cars plus the 24H Series regular in-house built Audi R8 of Red Camel-Jordans.nl
Six Ginetta GT4s are entered. Including a pair of G50s for the Italian Nova Race team. Look out for British GT regular Henry Fletcher in the #167 car and quick Italian Matteo Cressoni in the #205.
Optimum Motorsport enter the sole G55 car on the entry with Bradley Ellis and his 2014 driving partner Adrian Barwick. Euan Hankey joins the pair too.
Speedworks are another well-known team with a two-car entry, one each for a Ginetta G50, and an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Amongst a number of familiar names to British GT followers, BTCC race winner Paul O’Neill can be found.
The Cup 1 class this year is occupied by a sextet of the new BMW factory built M235i Racing Club racers.
It’s here that the regular all lady crew in this race, The Racing Divas, can be found, together with the inspiring Mission Possible crew, solely composed of paraplegic and quadriplegic drivers.
BMW works driver Jorg Muller features in the lineup for the #74 MPB racing car.
Amongst the remaining touring car entries there are still familiar names including Hal Prewitt, Roger Grouwels, Phil Quaife, Cyndie Allemann, British GT regular pair James May and Alex Osborne and (Tom’s brother!) Jacob Kristensen.
