Dragon Racing is busy preparing for its Dubai 24 Hours and Asian Le Mans Series efforts in 2024, where it will race its brand new Ferrari 296 GT3s for the first time.
Both Ferraris will debut at the Dubai 24 Hours with the #88 car entered under the ROFGO by DRAGON RACING banner, the car reuniting the GT4-winning line-up from 2023 (also with Dragon Racing) who now target the overall win.
Roald Goethe, ex-WEC racer and two-time winner in GT4 (2022 and 2023) at Dubai, will again be joined by his two racing sons: McLaren Junior Driver, 2022 GTWCE Silver Sprint Champion, and 2022 Dubai 24hrs 2nd Place finisher (with WRT), Benji and Red Bull Junior Driver, FIA F3 driver and race winner, Dubai 24hr 2022 & 2023 GT4 winner Oliver Goethe.
Once again the Goethe family trio will be joined by Pro drivers Stuart Hall (2013 WEC GTE AM Champion) and Jordan Grogor (Dubai 24H winner in 2014 & 2015 in Dragon Racing Ferrari 458 GT3. Both Hall and Grogor also won in 2022 and 2023 in the AMG GT4).
The team’s #8 Ferrari 296 GT3 meanwhile will have a full driver crew announced before the New Year but one driver has been confirmed to DSC, 2023 FIA WEC LMP2 Champion Rui Andrade.
Andrade will also race in what is now a single-car Ferrari entry from Dragon Racing in the three Asian Le Mans Series races in the UAE in February, the car set to race as #98.
Angolan/Portuguese racer Rui has racing history with the team having contested the F4 UAE Series in 2019 with the squad.
As does co-driver Nicola Marinangeli – a Ferrari regular in 2023 in the GTWC Europe Sprint Cup and GT Open with AF Corse, who raced in the 2021 F3 Asia Championship with Dragon Racing.
2022 Ferrari Challenge Pirelli World Champion Marco Pulcini completes the line-up, he is the reigning GT Open Pro-Am Champion.
Dragon Racing will also contest the Yas Marina 6 Hrs with a single Ferrari (drivers TBC) and its Mercedes AMG GT4.
The #408 AMG will race under the GPM Racing by Dragon banner with American driver Keith Gatehouse (pictured below), who started racing in 2023 but already has a win in his debut season in Gulf Procar. Abu Dhabi will be his first endurance race after an intensive testing schedule.
Gatehouse will be joined by Dragon Racing driver coach Ramez Azzam who contested the GT Open in 2023 with Racing One. A third driver will be named later.
During a recent visit to Dragon Racing HQ at the Dubai Autodrome during the Gulf Historic Festival a couple of weeks back, the DSC Editor spent some time with CEO Brad Fincham, after touring the team’s impressive headquarters.
The tour included a look in the workshop where its pair of newly delivered Ferrari 296 GT3s were housed. And Fincham, it’s safe to say, is incredibly impressed by his new cars.
“We had four days of testing at Yas Marina and Dubai Autodrome last week with good progress for qualifying and race simulations, allowing the drivers and team to familiarise themselves and complete over 2000 km of running without any issues. All of that highlights how good the Ferrari 296 GT3 car is out of the box,” he said.
