As the 21st running of the Dubai 24 Hours crosses over half distance, BMW remains in control, with the #669 Team WRT M4 GT3 Evo leading at the 12-hour mark.
The quartet of M4s have run 1-2-3-4 at times over the last few hours, with one of the WRT or Paradine Competition entries holding the effective lead since the fourth hour.
Paradine’s #991 BMW enjoyed a long spell out front until the end of Hour 10, despite Pedro Ebrahim suffering from both radio and Traction Control issues. A Code 60 after Ebrahim pitted to hand over to Jamie Day, but before its rivals refuelled, dropped the car down to fifth.
The #669 BMW, with Ben Tuck behind the wheel, moved to the front, and as the respective pit strategies have played out, the Briton is out front again at the turn of the hour.
This gives Team WRT 40 points in the 24H Series Middle East Trophy, moving it into the joint championship lead with the #10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (992).
James Kellett is currently second in the #992 Paradine M4, 59 seconds behind Tuck, and 3 laps ahead of its nearest Am rival, the #69 Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II in 12th overall.
Third is Mathieu Detry in the #27 WRT BMW, which led for the majority of the last hour until Christopher Haase pitted, with the #777 Al Manar Racing by Dragon Ferrari 296 GT3 fourth and #991 Paradine entry rounding out the top five.
Herberth Motorsport is 1-2 in GT3-Pro/Am, with its #269 Porsche, in which Sven Müller recently set the fastest lap of the race, seventh overall and just under one minute ahead of the #10 effort.
BMW’s prospects of a record-tying sixth overall victory received a major boost in the eighth hour, when two of its main rivals ran into near-identical problems.
First, Winward Racing’s Marvin Dienst pulled up on the exit of Turn 9 whilst running in third overall, with the right rear wheel missing from his #81 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. Under 40 minutes later, race leader Jamie Winslow stopped the #2 HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II in the same place, also with the right rear Michelin absent. The #81 Mercedes-AMG retired, whilst the #2 Audi has returned to the circuit and now sits 38th overall.
Other notable retirements in recent hours include the pole-sitting #28 TFT Racing Mercedes-AMG, which started from pole position, whilst accident damage has ended the race for the #971 Rabdan by Fulgenzi Porsche, which started from 992-Am pole.
In 992, Tierra Outdoor Racing by FACH’s #962 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup leads by almost a lap from the #939 Team GP Elite 992-Am effort, which has been fighting Red Ant Racing’s #924 Porsche for the Am lead.
Tierra Outdoor Racing by FACH had been locked in a battle with Red Camel-Jordans.nl until the start of the 11th hour, when Ivo Breukers ended up in the marbles at Turn 4 trying to avoid a car diving up his inside, spun, and made contact with the barrier on the inside. Red Camel-Jordans is aiming to return to the race, but its #909 entry remains in the garage.
GTX has evolved into a battle between the Ginetta G56 GT2 and Rossa GT LM, both of which are in uncharted territory, having never raced for more than 6 hours. Team CMR’s #795 Ginetta is out front at the moment, but is due to pit shortly.
BMW’s domination carries over to GT4, where the #445 Cerny Motorsport M4 GT4 leads by six laps, whilst the #102 Cupra TCR DSG heads an asBest Racing 1-2 in TCE-TCX.
Image courtesy of 24H Series
