The 2015 Gulf 12 Hours winners in the #11 Kessel Ferrari 488 GT3 are on course for a second straight victory at the event, leading Part 1 of the 2016 edition of the race by a wide margin. Giacomo Piccini, Davide Rigon and Michael Broniszewski ended the opening six hours of the race in firm control, 40 seconds ahead of the Dragon Racing Ferrari 488, having lapped all but three of the other cars in the race.
This means that when the race restarts later today for the second six hours, it will effectively be a three-way fight at the front of the field when the grid resets. As it stands there’s just the trio of Pro GT cars on the lead lap after six hours of racing, which was littered with varying strategies and a lengthy safety car period for barrier repairs following a huge shunt involving the #61 GDL Racing Lamoborghini Super Trofeo Huracan of Jim Michelian.
Third overall, behind the Dragon Ferrari 488 of Matt Griffin, Rob Barff and Nic Minassian is the #16 GP Extreme Renault R.S.01 which managed to hold onto its position on the lead lap by just a handful of seconds. Stuart Hall, Jordan Grogor and Nicky Pastorelli finished the daylight running 70 seconds off the leading Ferrari.
Off the lead lap, and leading the Pro Am class in fourth is the #51 AF Corse Spirit of Race Ferrari 488, which lost out a chance at holding a lap lead over the contending Optimum Motorsport Audi in its class after Piccini put it a lap down in the final hour.
Piccini’s performance was a stand out as the race settled down in the final hour, as he carved his way through the field and put Optimum’s Flick Haigh, Herbert Motorsport’s Ralf Bohn and then AF Corse’s Andrea Rizzoli a lap down from sixth, fifth and fourth overall respectively. The Italian made a series of bold moves to effectively eliminate the three cars from overall contention in the second half of the race.
For those three though, it’s not too important, as AF Corse and Optimum are gunning for the Pro Am class win, which they will spend Part 2 battling for, while Herberth Motorsport is leading the Gentlemen class by a lap over the seventh place overall sitting #77 Kessel Racing Ferrari 458.
For the four prototypes in the race, the balancing via driver times and extra stops has indeed prevented them from competing for the overall win.
The best placed LMP3s are the pair entered by Graff, the #24 and #5 finishing eighth and ninth overall, and two laps down after the #24 led much of the opening stint of the race with Alexandre Cougnard.
United Autosports meanwhile, had a tough run after Alex Lynn charged through the field in the opening hour and took the lead before having to get out the car to ensure he can drive in Part 2. The #23 finished up 12th overall, two laps off the Graff cars but six laps ahead of the #22 sister car down in 16th.
In the GTX class, the #50 Scuderia Villorba Corse Maserati MC GT4 holds the top spot by a lap, ahead of Dragon Racing’s Porsche Cayman which inherited the place after Villorba Corse’s sister Maserati suffered gear selection issues during the fifth hour.
Third in the GT4 cateogry is the Porsche Cayman run by SlideSport, a lap off Dragon Racing.
For Part 2, 25 cars are set to take part, the GDL Racing Huracan the only confirmed retirement. Barwell Motorsport’s #78 Lamborghini Huracan which crashed out during the first hour, but was repaired upon being brought back to the pits by the team to ensure it can compete in the second half of the race.
The second half of the 2016 Gulf 12 Hours is set to start at 17:45 local time in the UAE.
