DUBAI, UAE – Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair shared the Getspeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Austria’s Dominik Baumann and Martin Konrad, Germany’s Fabian Schiller and American Anthony Bartone at the 19th Hankook 24H Dubai. Running second after 15 hours, the car was retired with fuel pump and transmission problems.
The weekend started off quite strong and we felt very positive with the car in testing. We led up to qualifying and a bronze (driver) had to qualify for the first session. It was open for the second two. Martin (Konrad) was slightly slower than the other bronzes in his qualifying, so when Dominik (Baumann) and Fabi (Schiller) did a great job, it was difficult to get the average down, so we started the race from P4 overall and P1 in the Pro class.
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
Leading into the race, we had a great strategy and the car felt quite good. The Audis were fast but, I think with our strategy of having the pros drive the last six hours, we had an advantage in the pocket. But, unfortunately, with nine hours to go we got a fuel pump issue and a gearbox failure as well. We weren’t able to continue the race while running in P2. Honestly, we had a good chance for the win this year. That’s racing. This will make victory at a future Dubai 24 feel even better….
Al-Faisal Al-Zubair
Victory after 603 laps went to the Eastalent Racing Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Christopher Haase, Simon Reicher, Markus Winkelhock, Mike Zhou and Gilles Magnus. Sven Müller brought the Proton Huber Competition Porsche 911 home second and Jack Barlow’s Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 was third.
How the race unfolded
The Getspeed crew led at the one-hour mark after 29 laps. Approaching two hours Al-Zubair was third behind the Proton Huber and MRS GT-Racing Porsches, then dropped to fourth after refuelling. The car was second behind the Eastalent Audi after four hours and third for the next two.
With Schiller driving after seven hours, it was fifth behind the Eastalent, HAAS RT and Attempto Audis and the Herberth Motorsport Porsche. It moved up to second after nine hours, slipped to third after three more, and was second again at 14 hours, before Baumann had to pit with technical problems after 360 laps.
Practice and qualifying
The crew was fourth in Friday’s first practice with 1min 59.990sec, while the Manamauri Energy by Ebimotors Porsche 911 GT3 R was fastest with 1min 58.940sec. Konrad was sixth in Q1 with 2min 00.559sec, Baumann fourth in Q2 with 1min 59.630sec and Schiller similarly placed in Q3 with 1min 59.893sec.