American muscle triumphed in the Dubai desert as Nick Pastorelli in the #21 V8 Racing Corvette C6-R set the fastest lap in the final qualifying session for the Dubai 24 Thursday.
Pastorelli took the pole with a lap of 1:57:282 at 165.72 kph, beating out last year’s winner Jeroen Bleekemolen who lapped the 5.4-km circuit in 1:57:445 in the Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon 1 Mercedes SLS AMG.
Qualifying was the quickest ever seen at this event, with three cars getting into the 1:57s.
The Dubai 24 is the first endurance race of the season, and as such attracts the biggest names in the sport: Jeroen Bleekemolen, Bernd Schneider, Adam Christodoulou, Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander, Jan Magnussen, Marc Basseng, and Dirk Werner are among the international stars who will participate.
The Dubasi 24 is a pro-Am event, so at least one driver per team has to be an amateur, but even the amateurs are quick; many like Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon’ s Khaled Al Qubaisi, are veterans of this and other endurance races.
In deference to the Pro-Am status, race organizers originally set bracket times: teams could not exceed targeted lap times set relative to their qualifying times. If they ran quicker, too many times, they would be penalized.
As the race has grown in international stature, the organizers made the rule optional for the top class, A6, which is composed of FIA GT3 machinery. This means the quickest cars on the course are allowed to run as fast as they can, while the slower classes still offer safe haven for smaller teams which cannot attract the big-name drivers.
The 24-hour race, presented by Dutch company Creventic, takes the green flag at 2 p.m. local time (5 a.m. EST) on Friday, Jan. 11. Live video streaming and live timing and scoring are available on the race website, 24hseries.com,with commentary by the Radio Le Mans crew. Radio Le Mans will also broadcast the audio separately in its own site.
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# |
Entrant |
Car |
Time |
Speed (kph) |
1 | 21 | V8 Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6-R | 1:57.282 | 165.72 |
2 | 1 | Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon 1 | Mercedes SLS AMG GT | 1:57.445 | 165.49 |
3 | 4 | Fach Auto Tech 2 | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 1:57.660 | 165.19 |
4 | 2 | Black Falcon 2 | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 | 1:58.235 | 164.39 |
5 | 76 | SX Team Schubert | BMW Z4 GT3 | 1:58.285 | 164.32 |
6 | 30 | Ram Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 1:58.402 | 164.16 |
7 | 17 | Craft Racing AMR 2 | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 1:58.644 | 163.82 |
8 | 7 | Craft Racing AMR 1 | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 1:58.674 | 163.78 |
9 | 27 | Walkenhorst Motorsport | BMW Z4 GT3 | 1:58.946 | 163.41 |
10 | 5 | Spirit of Race 1 | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 1:58.984 | 163.35 |
