Neither of the two cars involved in Thursday evening’s qualifying crash will take the start of the Dubai 24 Hours – both the #15 Glorax Racing Ferrari and #62 STP Racing Porsche being too badly damaged to repair on-site. Another non-starter is the #51 Primus Racing Ginetta G50, entered in the SP3/GT4 class, which crashed on its own.
Isaac Tutumlu explained yesterday that he had indeed lost control of the Ferrari, but that this had been caused by oil down on the track with no flag warnings.
Despite rumours late last year, Abdulaziz Al Faisal has told DSC that he will not be contesting the 2015 FIA WEC. “I’m getting married in April so that realistically counts me out for a full season,” he said.
“It’s certainly true that I really had a great experience with the Aston Martin Racing team in Bahrain (Abdulaziz drove the #99 Craft Bamboo car replacing Darryl O’Young) and I’m interested in potentially looking at the WEC in the future.”
We should though again see him with Black Falcon for the 2015 Nurburgring 24 Hours.
We are unlikely to have an in-car shot from the #23 Nissan during the race, after the camera installation caused a minor on-board fire yesterday – Bob Neville was sharpening his tongue to a fine point this morning in anticipation of a ‘chat’ with the TV engineer!
There’s going to be plenty of news falling out from this weekend’s event, with multiple teams telling DSC that they’ll have news next week about programmes ranging from the Blancpain GT Series to British GT.
With other cars on the initial 95-car entry list (such as the second Dragon Racing Ferrari) not materialising as full race entries, it looks like 89 cars will be taking the green flag at 2pm local time.
The Scuderia Praha Ferrari will be taking the start, however, after sterling work by the team’s mechanics to repair damage from yesterday’s free practice crash. Speaking during Friday morning’s 30-minute warm-up, driver Peter Kox said: “It’s a small team, but the guys have done a fantastic job. The handling isn’t exactly where we want it but mechanically the car is 100%. We’re not quite on the level of the Mercedes – it’s not for nothing that they form the majority of the GT3 grid in this series.”
Another car standing out among the phalanx of Mercedes is the Gulf Racing Lamborghini, with Brits Jamie Campbell-Walter and Stuart hall sharing driving duties with Frederic Fatien and team owner Roald Goethe. The latter told us that the gearbox issue which blunted the charge in the Gulf 12 Hours before Christmas has now been sorted. “Reiter sent out an engineer – it was a pressure valve causing the problem,” he said. “Touch wood we’ll be okay, but this is still really more of a sprint car than an endurance car.”
KPM Racing is running the sole Aston Martin GT3 car in the race, with factory stars Stefan Mucke and Johnny Adam lining up alongside team owner Paul White. Adam was optimistic when we caught up with him during warm-up. “We kind of expected to qualify around sixth or seventh, which is where we’ve ended up,” the Scotsman said. “Our race pace is good and I’m impressed with the consistency of the Hankooks – this is my first time driving an Aston with them.” It’s Adam’s second Dubai 24 appearance, though, his first coming at the wheel of a Clio a few years pack as part of a driver coaching assignment. “We’re not too far off the Mercedes, especially on the straights,” he concluded.
Dutchman Yelmer Buurman is aboard the best-qualifying Mercedes – the #2 Black Falcon car shared with Ollie Webb, Hubert Haupt and Abdulaziz Al-Faisal. “I didn’t get a completely clear lap in qually,” he said. “There was a little bit of traffic on my fastest lap and I had a quicker first sector in the next lap but then I hit more traffic. I think the start will be interesting here, as there’s no overtaking before the start-finish line, regardless of when the lights go out. It’s pretty close between us and the Porsches, although they are running 125kg lighter.”
Fortec Motorsport is once again running the GT Russian Team Mercedes entry, with a new face on board in the shape of 2014 ART McLaren driver Kevin Korjus. The Estonian single-seater convert is finding the SLS a distinctively different prospect to the McLaren 12C. “It’s heavier, so you can’t carry the same speed through mid-corner,” he explained. “Also, I find the track here has a lot less grip than a typical European circuit. The traffic is crazy – I think we’ll be getting no more than one or two clear laps in the first half of the race, passing between three and 10 cars a lap.” Korjus was unable to confirm whether he’ll be returning to the wheel of an ART McLaren in Blancpain or ELMS this season. “I’m not sure what ART are doing yet, so we’ll see,” he said.
Christian Engelhart was part of last year’s race-winning crew aboard the Stadler Motorsport Porsche and is back looking to repeat the victory this year. “It’s hard to say if we have an advantage over the Mercedes anywhere,” he told us. “It’s all about the long-run race pace. You never really know what the ultimate race lap time is here because of all the traffic. I know we’re using the tyres a little harder than the Mercedes, so we’ll see where we are after a few stints.” Engelhart is another driver to profess his liking for the new-to-the-series Hankook tyres, adding: “They suit the Porsche, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens when the temperatures drop at night.”
SE & GG
