Dubai Friday Notebook

***Track-limits played a major part in the inaugural Michelin 24H Dubai top 10 shootout on Friday with Oliver Goethe in the No. 88 Dragon Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 one of three drivers to lose their sole lap for pushing the boundaries too far.

***The FIA Formula 2 competitor called the decision “marginal” but was still pleased with his pace as he would have started third without the sanction. “The goal was to qualify in the top 10,” Goethe told Sportscar365. “In the end, we’re starting ninth – I think still a good position to start for a 24-hour race. But it’s a shame – I would’ve been third without that little mistake.”

***Goethe pinpointed the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo crews as being favourites for the race victory after a Silver Arrow headed the combined qualifying averages and the top 10 shootout. “The Mercedes look really quick, so it was difficult to get close to them,” he said. “I really gave it everything.”

***But a Mercedes-AMG driver who failed to make it into the shootout despite looking rapid was Jules Gounon. He twice set times that would have been good enough to be fastest in the third qualifying session at the wheel of the No.4 GetSpeed machine. However, both laps were deleted for track-limits abuses and Gounon’s next best left him 15th and the team in the same position on the averages.

***Goethe’s No. 88 entry was not the only Dragon Racing Ferrari to pick up a penalty during qualifying, but the No. 777’s was far more severe. It had also seemingly made the top 10 shootout, only to subsequently lose its times from the first qualifying segment when the Ferrari was found to have overboosted. It has therefore plummeted to 33rd, heavily denting Axcil Jefferies’ ambitions of becoming a three-time event winner.

***Completing the Ferrari qualifying misery were the problems that befell the No. 56 Scuderia Praha 296. It was unable to set a time during the second or third sessions after suffering a breakage of a wishbone mounting point during the initial segment and will therefore start 34th and last of the GT3 crews.

***Pole position for the TFT Racing Mercedes-AMG squad was the manufacturer’s fifth at this event, second only to Porsche. If one of the Silver Arrows is triumphant in the race it would be a sixth victory that would tie with Porsche’s tally.

***WRT has an incredible record in this event, having only failed to finish on the podium on three occasions in the past 10 years. It will be seeking to score a fifth win in the 2026 edition and its pair of BMW M4 GT3 EVOs will start fourth and seventh on the grid.

***While Dario Franchitti is making a one-off return to modern racing at this event, he is not the only member of the 1996 Mercedes DTM/ITC squad present in Dubai. Thirty years on, Franchitti’s ex-mechanic, Stefan Sack, is also on site as he is the supplier of the Lumirank system that shows the numbered race position on each of the cars.

***As predicted on Thursday, there were indeed further changes to the GT4 entry list with extra drivers joining the Circuit Toys Toyota GR Supra GT4 lineup after unofficial testing appearances. Former single-seater racer and historic rallying competitor Harri Reynolds – who described having to borrow pieces of equipment from others in the paddock to be ready – and GT racing regular Ed McDermott are also due to compete in the Toyota.

***The next track action in Dubai is set to be the 30-minute warm-up at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday (1 a.m. ET), before the race is due to start at 1 p.m. local. This will be streamed online on the Creventic YouTube channel with the RSL broadcast team comprising John Hindhaugh, Jonny Palmer, Ben Constanduros, Phil Anson, Carl Welti, Sara Essa and Simon Hill.

John Dagys contributed to this report