The #2 Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon Mercedes went fastest in Saturday morning’s 30-minute warm-up session for the Dubai 24 Hours. AMG Mercedes factory driver Maro Engel went round in 2:00.837, some way off yesterday evening’s qualifying pace.
Black Falcon had completed their rebuild of their spare Mercedes SLS overnight, meaning the crew of the #16 entry (below) will be able to take the start. However driver Patrick Assenheimer, who was in the original chassis when it caught fire, suffered burns to his face and arm, so will not participate in the race.
Worth noting is that the spare chassis, which finished second at the Gulf 12 Hours before Christmas, had passed into driver of the #3 Abdulaziz Al-Faisal’s personal collection and was bound for a museum after being displayed in the paddock for this event.
The #19 WRT Audi (above) of Michael Meadows and the other Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT, with Yelmer Buurman at the wheel, were second and third-fastest respectively.
Having spent most of Thursday being rebuilt, the #202 Red Camel-Jordans.nl MARC Mazda3 got out for warm-up, only to hit the wall nose-on once again (above). Heavy front-end damage means it’s unlikely the car will make the start.
A confirmed non-starter is the #152 Sorg Rennsport BMW M235i (above), which suffered suspected chassis damage in a practice impact on Thursday. The sister #151 car starts from class pole, however.
SE/GG
Images: Peter May
