Sun Rises Over Dubai, Black Falcon in Control

Black Falcon continues to dominate the Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai. After 18 hours the No. 2 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 held a commanding 9-minute lead.

Buurman and his teammates Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Hubert Haupt and Oliver Webb controlled the race during the night, not making any mistakes or hitting trouble.

They were able to increase the lead even further in the 17th hour, when the No. 28 KPM Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 had to make a couple of extra pit stops due to a wheel hub problem.

With the Vantage in the pits, the A6-Am class No. 88 Dragon Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Mohammed Jawa, Jordan Grogor, Rob Barff and Matt Griffin moved up into second position, followed by the No. 30 Ram Racing Mercedes SLS AMG GT3.

Right at the end of the 18th hour, the No. 33 SPS automotive-performance Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, which had made it into the top four hit trouble and returned to the pits with suspension damage. Stefan Muecke took advantage and moved back into fourth.

After 18 hours, the No. 23 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 was sixth overall and second in A6-Am, with Florian Strauss setting some really fast lap times, followed by the No. 99 Attempto Racing Porsche 997 GT3 R in seventh.

The V8 Racing Corvette C6.R retired just after 4 a.m. with a damaged steering rack.

Black Falcon continues to also dominate in the 997 class, with the No. 26 Porsche 991 Cup five laps clear of its nearest rival.

The Lecher Racing Middle East Porsche, which had been second, suffered a drive shaft issue and lost several laps.

Optimum Motorsport leads Speedworks Motorsport in SP3. The gap between the two Ginetta teams was just over four minutes.

RESULTS: Hour 18