Dubai Thursday Notebook

***This weekend’s event marks the 20th edition of the Michelin 24H Dubai, which was first held in 2006. The inaugural race was won by Duller Motorsport with a BMW M3 CSL that was notably co-driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck and future Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team principal Toto Wolff.

***Thursday’s track action consisted of a pair of private test sessions, with a four-hour morning session followed by two further hours in the afternoon. Zach Robichon set the fastest time of the day during the morning session, posting a 1:58.314 aboard the No. 27 Heart of Racing by SPS Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. RESULTS: Private Test 1/Private Test 2

***Two cars (the No. 6 Racing One Ferrari 296 GT3 and No. 26 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II) have been withdrawn from the GT3 field, resulting in an 31-car entry for the top class.

***A number of changes and additions were made to the entry list in recent days across the GT3 field. Comtoyou Racing has sured up the lineups for both of its Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evos, with Kobe Pauwels and Matisse Lismont added to the No. 40 car. Silver-rated driver Mex Jansen, meanwhile, has been tapped as a late addition to the No. 41 sister car to drive alongside Viacheslav Gutak, Dante Rappange and Nicolas Baert.

***Proton Huber Competition, meanwhile, has altered the driving squad for its No. 969 Porsche 911 GT3 R that is headlined by two-time World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera. Mark Wallenwein has been removed in favor of Porsche regular Bashar Mardini, who contested last month’s Lenovo Gulf 12 Hours with Lionspeed GP.

***Finally, Paradine Competition has overhauled the crew for the No. 991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, with the previously listed Josh Caygill and Rob Collard no longer set to drive. Instead, the team has downscaled to a four-driver lineup as former Ginetta racer Simon Traves joins Darren Leung, Ahmad Al Harthy and Toby Sowery.

***Notably, the Leung-led Paradine effort is no longer operated with input from Century Motorsport as was previously the case in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe and the British GT Championship, with Century boss Nathan Freke confirming to Sportscar365 that the two sides have parted ways.

***Paradine has a pair of EVO-spec BMWs on site. In addition to the No. 991 car that is set to race this weekend, a second, carbon-black example took part in the test sessions sessions that preceded official running. Esports star turned GT3 racer James Baldwin was one of the drivers on hand to sample the second car in recent days.

***A number of other squads, including Earl Bamber Motorsport, Era Motorsport, Attempto Racing and Scuderia Praha also have second cars present in the Dubai paddock.

***Also present at the test, but not scheduled to take part in the race, was Origine Motorsport. The Chinese squad had its full Asian Le Mans Series lineup, including Porsche factory driver Laurin Heinrich, on-site to prepare for the second leg of the championship that takes place in Dubai in February.

***Razoon More Than Racing looks set to switch to a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS for the remainder of the weekend, with the Austrian squad seen preparing the new car in the garage after Simon Birch heavily damaged the front of the team’s No. 992 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup with a crash at Turn 9 during the morning session.

***Herberth Motorsport’s No. 91 Porsche 911 GT3 R was also damaged after a crash for Jake Pedersen, but co-driver Kay van Berlo told Sportscar365 that the team expects repairs to be completed in time for Friday morning’s Free Practice session.

***A total of 18 American drivers are set to take part in this weekend’s event, with the majority competing in the GT3 class. In addition to Era Motorsport pairing Ryan Dalziel and Kyle Tilley, who were born outside the U.S. but are listed as American on the entry list, Pedersen, Dwight Merriman, Dustin Blattner, Patrick Liddy, Blake McDonald, Robert Mau, Jon Miller, Gray Newell and Hannah Grisham also feature in the top category.

***Elsewhere in the field, Gerhard Watzinger and Don Yount share a Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 in GTX while Bryan Sircely and Gregg Gorski compete in 992. Former Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America competitor Tiger Tari is entered into the GT4 class, where he will face off against Tim Pappas and Keith Gatehouse.

***The 24H Dubai is set to kick off a busy stretch of international sports car racing, with the event closely followed by the Roar before the Rolex 24 and subsequent Rolex 24 at Daytona. A number of drivers, including Sowery, Dalziel, Thomas Preining, Klaus Bachler, Matt Bell, Robichon and Lorenzo Patrese are set to take part in both events. Robichon, meanwhile, has also already been confirmed for the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour that takes place the weekend after Daytona.

***While locally based squad Dragon Racing is entered into the 24H Dubai with a two-car Ferrari effort, circuit neighbors GPX Racing are not. However, the team is active in the region this week, competing in the Dakar Classic rally in Saudi Arabia. Frederic Fatien, who won the 2021 edition of the Dubai race in a GPX Porsche, is at the wheel of a Toyota Land Cruiser.

***Nine former overall winners of the 24H Dubai are set to take part this weekend, with defending champion Zhou Bihuang joined by two-time winner Axcil Jefferies, Rik Breukers, Gabriele Piana, Ralf Bohn, Robert Renauer and Casten Tilke. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Hubert Haupt, who are tied at three wins, are also entered.

***Markus Winkelhock, one of last year’s winners with Eastalent Racing, was spotted in the paddock on Thursday. The German’s 17-year tenure with Audi came to an end last month. Also present was Aston Martin factory ace David Pittard, on-site in a coaching capacity.

***This weekend marks the first race of Creventic’s new tire supply deal with Michelin. Sportscar365 understands that cars are running on the Pilot Sport Cup H1 compound.

***Al Manar Racing by Team WRT driver Dan Harper told Sportscar365: “I’m not exactly sure what the difference is, but I think at the very beginning when the track didn’t have so much rubber, we were having quite a lot of degradation. Now the track is gripping up with more cars driving and now it’s getting much, much better. To me at least, it actually feels very similar to the Pirellis from GT World Challenge. There’s not a huge difference. So in a way that’s good, just to know already how it feels and what the car needs on that sort of tire.”

***Friday will see the start of official track action. After a final, 90-minute test session in the morning, Free Practice kicks off at 11:15 a.m. GST (2:15 a.m. ET). That will be followed by qualifying and night practice.

***Qualifying has been split into two parts, with the TCE, GT4 & GTX runners qualifying first at 2:25 a.m. GST (05:45 a.m. ET). The schedule then features a qualifying session for the Clio Cup Middle East before the grid is then set for the 992 runners at 4 p.m. local time. After that, GT3 qualifying is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. GST (08:05 a.m. ET).

***All qualifying sessions will be streamed live on the Creventic Motorsport TV YouTube channel. Commentary will be provided by Radio Show Limited with a broadcast team consisting of John Hindhaugh, Joe Bradley, Jonny Palmer, Peter Mackay, Nick Daman and Phil Anson.