Grasser Hits Trouble From Lead Battle, Car Collection Out Front

Image: Creventic

Grasser Racing Team has dropped out of the lead battle in the Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai with suspension damage, while Car Collection Motorsport leads the race.

Rolf Ineichen brought the pole-sitting Grasser Lamborghini Huracan GT3 into the pits during the fourth hour with damage to the rear-right suspension after running in second position.

He had been battling with Car Collection’s Rik Breukers for the lead since the race began to settle down in the third hour.

Darkness has since fallen on Dubai Autodrome, with Dimitri Parhofer now leading overall in the No. 88 Car Collection Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo.

Ineichen initially lost four laps while Grasser made repairs to its Lamborghini and went back out on track only to come back into the pits for the Austrian team to make more adjustments to the setup.

It’s understood the team is being cautious of its wheel setup after encountering problems with the Hankook tires in last year’s race that resulted in it picking up several punctures.

Stefan Muecke runs in second position in the BWT Muecke Motorsport Audi, ahead of Jiri Pisarik in the Bohemia Energy Racing with Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3.

In addition to the Car Collection and Grasser cars, Target Racing also had a stint in the lead for a total of 13 laps, while Attempto Racing and Bohemia Energy Racing with Scuderia Praha have also led briefly.

Josh Webster leads GT4 for Dragon Racing, meanwhile. 

The race is currently under its fourth Code 60 period which was called after contact between the No. 19 MP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 and CWS Engineering Ginetta G55 GT4 which started from TCE division pole. 

Bert de Heus’ MP Mercedes has sustained severe damage from the impact, with the current neutralization the longest Code 60 so car.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.