Black Falcon On Top at Six-Hour Mark in Dubai

Black Falcon continues to lead the way with six hours in the books in the Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai.

The No. 2 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 of Yelmer Buurman, Oliver Webb, Hubert Haupt and Abdulaziz Al Faisal holds a two-lap lead over the No. 28 KPM Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Jonny Adam, Stefan Muecke and Paul White.

Classified third overall is the No. 33 SPS automotive performance Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, currently driven by Lance-David Arnold, ahead of the A6-Am class-leading No. 88 Dragon Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 of Matt Griffin in fourth overall.

There have been five Code 60s already as a result of accidents and cars stopped in dangerous positions.

The A6 class has had a high rate of attrition in the first quarter of the race. Kenneth Heyer’s crash at the end of the first out took out the No. 9 Hofor Racing Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, while the No. 11 Fach Auto Tech lost several laps in the box in the third hour.

Defending race winners Stadler Racing returned their No. 1 Porsche 997 GT3 R to the pits with right rear suspension damage and a small fire just after the two hour mark. It briefly returned, but has been in the pits for several hours now.

The No. 3 Abu Dhabi Racing by Black Falcon Mercedes briefly took the lead in the fourth hour but Khaled Al Qubaisi made contact with another car and returned a smoking car to the pits. The team tried to repair the damage but was eventually forced to retire.

Pole-sitters Fach Auto Tech lost significant time when the No. 12 Porsche 997 GT3 R suffered a driveshaft failure on the track. The car was eventually towed back into the pits, but dropped out of the top 30.

Patrik Kaiser crashed the No. 5 Car Collection Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 early in the fifth hour, causing severe damage to the car. Kaiser was taken to the medical centre for a check.

Among the other class leaders in the race are the No. 26 Black Falcon Porsche (997) and the No. 205 Nova Race Ginetta (SP3).

RESULTS: Hour 6