There have been a number of changes to the entry list, with more to come today, due to testing accidents, travel issues and, in some cases, positive COVID tests:
The #91 Herberth Motorsports Porsche is believed to be a withdrawal after a big shunt yesterday for the car in testing- Daniel Allemann clashing with a wayward Cupra TCR car, the two making heavy contact and the Porsche ending up on its roof.
The #91 cannot be repaired here and is understood to be out of the race, and currently, there is believed to be no suitable replacement car in the UAE.
The #103 Cupra TCR meanwhile suffered heavy front-end damage but that car looked almost fully rebuilt this morning.
Axcil Jeffries, a winner here last year with GPX Racing, has been named this morning as the replacement driver for the #7 MST WRT Audi after Michael Vergers tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in the UAE.
Mikhail Aleshin has stepped away from the #13 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, the Russian crewed effort supported here by HRT, There will be no replacement driver and Victor Shaytar, Denis Remenyako and Sergey Stolyarov have switched to GT3 AM as a result.
Ahmad Al Harthy has joined the #95 Duel Racing with TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 after San de Haan was counted out, he is remaining in the UK and observing COVID protocols preventing him too from travelling.
This is set to be a common theme in the coming months!
The #478 CWS Ginetta G56 sees James Jakes (pictured above) added to the roster alongside Colin White, Mike Simpson and Lawrence Tomlinson (pictured below with Colin White).
And Christophe Bouchut replaces Jacques Nicolet in the #202 Les Deux Arbres Ligier JS 2R, reuniting with long-time racing colleague Jack Laconte in the process!
That move prevents what would have been an intriguing prospect of the men at the helm of two of the current LMP3 manufacturers (Tomlinson & Nicolet) both competing, albeit in different classes, in cars made by their own companies.
Jeroen Bleekemolen meanwhile, a three-time winner at this event, has joined the very orange #909 Red Camel jordans.nl 992-Pro Porsche 911 GT3 Cup effort together with Julius Adomavičius, Ivo Breukers and Morris Schuring.
Shaun Thong was revelling in his late opportunity to drive here in the #940 ID Racing Porsche 992 911 GT3 Cup. “It was a very late call, I got a message asking how soon I could be here and luckily things came together to allow it to happen.”
Asked about the prospects of a return to racing for the K2 Uchino Oreca he crewed in the 2019/20 Asian Le Mans Series, he confirmed reports that the team have been testing at Fuji, believed to be an evaluation process for future Bronze drivers. With the team now fully engaged in the 2022 Super GT Championship, any return for the LMO2 would now look to the 2022/23 Asian Le Mans Series at the earliest.
Proton Competition Team Principal Christian Ried is in Dubai in a support role and confirmed to DSC that the Mercedes AMG that the team will be supporting at the Rolex 24 Hours is the first-ever non-Porsche machine that the team will have run.
Ried was one of several significant FIA WEC personalities in the paddock with questions over the selection of the GTE Am class for the coming season, several sources suggesting that whilst multiple cars of multiple marques have been turned down for a WEC slot, at least one team appears to have an entry for a car it does not currently have in its fleet, and with Sebring, just weeks away, and logistics already a significant global issue, a late replacement for that, or any other car, would be both difficult and expensive.
Re-fettled and ready to go after travails in last weekend’s Gulf 12 Hours is the Attempto Racing Audi R8 GT3 Evo, the team with a long programme in the Gulf region this winter with the car staying on to contest the Asian Le Mans Series next month.
As in 2021 the 24H Series too stay in the UAE for another week after this race with their 6H Abu Dhabi race next weekend at Yas Marina having attracted a much-improved entry of almost 40 cars.
In contrast, the news yesterday that the proposed Bahrain 1000kms for Pro-Am crews only is postponed until next year. Organisers Driving Force events blaming COVID and local logistics-related factors.
Statement from Driving Force Events and Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in relation to the Bahrain ProAm 1000 pic.twitter.com/SBcs29MC6G
— Bahrain Int. Circuit (@BAH_Int_Circuit) January 12, 2022
Both Heart of Racing and ProSport have spare cars on-site for their GT4 Aston Martin efforts, both teams used the spares for the Open Testing on Wednesday as the Heart of racing crew prepped their race car.
Those two sessions saw a total of 79 cars take to the track (84 are currently listed for the race proper) – with the fastest time of the day coming in the morning session – a 1:58.008 from the #67 Dinamic Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R, believed to be in the hands of Matteo Cairoli at the time.
