Following a highly successful 2013 season with victories in the Dubai 24 Hours, Nurburgring 24 Hours and Gulf 12 Hours, Team Black Falcon enters 2014 with a clear target in mind: a repeat of last year’s success.
The first round of the new season, the Dubai 24 Hours, will be taking place on the Dubai Autodrome on 9, 10 and 11 January. Team Black Falcon will contest the ninth running of the classic endurance race with two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 cars and against more than 80 outfits including some 400 drivers of 40 different nationalities.
The team will, for the third consecutive year, rely on Mercedes AMG power for optimum reliability, speed and efficiency. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 is powered by a 6.2-liter V8 engine producing 600 bhp @ 6800 rpm and 678 Nm of maximum torque at 4750 rpm; it is mated to a sequential six-speed racing transmission with steering wheel shift paddles.
New to the team is Saudi driver Abdulaziz Turki AlFaisal who’s lining up in the Black Falcon 2 SLS AMG GT3 alongside Khaled Al Qubaisi (UAE), Jeroen Bleekemolen (NED), Hubert Haupt (GER) and Adam Christodoulou (ENG). AlFaisal has had a successful motorsport career so far, with double championship victories in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, in addition to several participations in endurance racing, including the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Khaled Al Qubaisi and Jeroen Bleekemolen will also sit behind the wheel of the Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon 1 SLS AMG GT3 that will be shared with DTM legend Bernd Schneider (GER) and Andreas Simonsen (SWE); the latter is stepping in for the late Sean Edwards who lost his life in a tragic accident a few months ago.
With two home victories in his pocket, UAE’s Khaled Al Qubaisi is looking to emulate his 2012 and 2013 successes by scoring a hat trick with Team Black Falcon this year. This outstanding line-up of previous and current champions, seasoned and talented drivers, will no doubt boost Team Black Falcon’s chances of securing yet another triumph in one of the toughest racing challenges on the planet.
The Dubai 24 Hour action kicks off on Wednesday, January 8th with optional private testing, which should help the front-running teams brush off potential impediments. The Dubai Autodrome will be host to three free practice sessions on Thursday, January 9th, the first of which gets underway at 11:30 AM. Three qualifying sessions are also scheduled on Thursday, with the earliest session starting at 03:00 PM.
A half hour warm-up session will kick-start Friday’s proceedings, before the race starts at 02:00 PM. Teams and drivers will cross the Dubai Autodrome finish line 24 hours later at 02:00 PM on Saturday; this will be followed by a podium ceremony for all categories.