After six hours of racing two-time winner #1 Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon 1 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 leads the 2014 Dunlop Dubai 24-hour race.
The A6-Pro-class Black Falcon Mercedes, piloted at the moment by Jeroen Bleekemolen, has a 46-second lead over the second-placed #4 Fach Auto Tech Porsche 997 GT3 R driven by Martin Ragginger. A further 26 seconds back is the #38 All-Inkl Münnich Motors Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 of Marc Basseng.
A little over half a lap back is Adam Christodoulou’s #2 Black Falcon 2 Mercedes SLS and a further half-lap back is Dane Cameron’s #76 SX Team Schubert BMW Z4.
With 18 hours of racing left, ten of it in the dark, any of these cars has a decent shot at the overall win, but odds have to favor the two-time winners.
The first few hours of the race were an all-out sprint. Bleekemolen grabbed the lead oat the start, but was penalized for passing before crossing the start-finish line. The lead changed hands a dozen times with eight different cars holding it, but the Abu Dhabi Black Falcon Mercedes led the majority, with the All-Inkl Mercedes, the Schubert BMW, and the Fach Porsche leading half-a-dozen or a dozen laps, mostly dictated by pit strategy and Code 60s.
The first few hours were trouble-free despite the pace, but once night fell, longer Code 60s (Dubai 24’s version of a caution period) began piling up—six Code 60s for a total of 21 laps (two hours) in the first six hours of racing.
Other Classes:
Rob Barff in the #88 Dragon Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 leads in A6-Am, six laps down. Vladimir Lunkin’s 997-class #44 Black Falcon Porsche 997 Cup leads the 997 class, seven laps behind the leader.
The #123 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan 370Z driven by Miguel Faisca leads SP2, 17 laps down, while the #62 JR Motorsport BMW E46 GTR of Harry Hilders leads A5, two more laps behind.
Roberto Gentili leads SP3 in the #154 Nova Race Ginetta G50, 124 laps back.
Junichi Umemoto in the Lap57 Racing Team Honda Coupe leads A2, having completed 122 laps, 22 behind the leader; half a lap behind Umemoto, Josh Caygillin the #127 KPM Racing Volkswagen Golf TDI MK 6 leads class D1.
The race is streaming live on 24hrSseries.com, which also provides Live Timing and Scoring and commentary by the Radio Le Mans crew. The audio is also being broadcast on the Radio Le Mans website.
