Haughton Joins Fulgenzi Racing Porsche Squad
Reigning NLS Cup 3 drivers’ champion Harley Haughton is set to make his GT3 debut, following a late call-up from the Italian Fulgenzi Racing outfit.
Haughton will share the #17 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) with Alessandro Giannone, Andrea Girondi and Enrico Fernando Fulgenzi, in the GT3 Pro-Am class.
The Briton made his 24H Dubai debut last year, when he finished second in GT4 for SRS Team Rennsport. This will be his second-ever appearance for Fulgenzi Racing, following a start at last year’s 992 Endurance Cup at Spa-Francorchamps.
“I am hugely grateful to the team for the opportunity to step up to the GT3 car this weekend and get some great seat time before the beginning of the season,” Haughton said.
“This will be my debut in GT3 endurance racing after competing in the 992 Cup at a couple of events over the last few years – including my first race with the Enrico Fulgenzi team in the 992 Endurance Cup 12 Hour race at Spa, so I am excited and well-prepared heading into the weekend. My personal aim is to get my lap times down to as close as possible to the numerous factory and professional drivers that are racing in Dubai this weekend and execute a smart and fast race.
“The weekend will be all about adapting and finding as much speed as possible whilst learning more about the 911 GT3R and set-up. It’s a very strong driver line-up and so a Pro-Am class win has to be the target but anything can happen as we know.”
Mitchell, Bentley Join Updated Ginetta GT2 Crew
The driver roster for the Ginetta G56 GT2’s 24-hour race debut has received an overhaul, with the addition of Jack Mitchell and Andrew Bentley in place of Lawrence and Freddie Tomlinson.
The Britons will join the previously announced Mike Simpson and Nico Prost in the #795 Team CMR entry, which will compete in GTX.
Mitchell and Simpson gave the G56 GT2 its endurance debut at last weekend’s 6H Abu Dhabi, qualifying on pole and comfortably leading GTX early on before mechanical issues struck.
Updated Entry List Confirms Classes, Withdrawals
An updated version of the entry list has been released, confirming which of the sub-classes within the GT3 and 992 categories that each entry will contest.
GT3-Pro is set to feature 14 cars, with 12 in GT3-Pro/Am and 8 in GT3-Am. Nine of the 16 992 entries will compete in the Porsche Cup class’ Am section.
The #26 Sainteloc Junior Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, which didn’t have any drivers listed, has been withdrawn, but the addition of the #992 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo has kept the GT3 field stable at 34 cars.
The GT4 class has been reduced from five to three cars, with the withdrawal of the #414 Razoon – More Than Racing Porsche and #478 CWS Engineering Ginetta.
This means a total of 66 cars are set to compete this weekend.
Championship Standings
The 24H Dubai is the final event of Creventic’s three-round 24H Series Middle East Trophy, with championship honours still up for grabs in every class.
This is because a full set of points will be awarded at both the 12-hour mark and race finish, and the score from one round of the championship must be dropped.
In GT3, Herberth Motorsport’s #10 Porsche currently leads the way on 76 points, with 80 still available. The #87 Origine powered by CC Porsche is in second position on 58 points, two ahead of the #69 Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport Audi.
The #669 Team WRT BMW is currently fifth, on 36 points, and the best of those which has effectively applied its dropped score already due to missing the 12H Malaysia. Herberth, meanwhile, will need to score at least 36 points in Dubai before it starts advancing its points tally.
Red-Camel Jordans.nl currently leads 992, with Vortex V8 heading the way in GTX, Cerny Motorsport topping GT4, and defending champion asBest Racing out front in TCE-TCX.
Timetable
The 24H Dubai will again run to a three-day structure this year, although the event is being preceded by two days of optional testing.
The two-hour Free Practice session will begin at 10:30 GST on Friday 16th January, ahead of Qualifying – including the new-for-2026 Top 10 Shootout – at 13:45 GST, and Night Practice at 19:00 GST. The race will start at 13:00 GST (09:00 UTC) on Saturday 17th January.
Images © 24H Series, Harley Haughton
