Preining Leads Porsche 1-2-3 in Dubai Night Practice

Pure Rxcing driver Thomas Preining led a Porsche top-three lockout in the Night Practice session for the Michelin 24H Dubai.

The Austrian reeled off a 1:58.296 aboard the No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R that claimed pole for the 20th running of the event earlier on Friday evening.

In the process, he outpaced Kay van Berlo’s No. 91 Herberth Motorsport entry by 0.632 seconds, with Alex Fontana slotting into third aboard the No. 30 Car Collection Motorsport machine.

Matt Bell was the quickest non-Porsche driver in fourth overall, 0.859 seconds down in the No. 88 Dragon Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.

The 90-minute practice session started 15 minutes later than originally planned, having been pushed back as a result of the barrier repairs that took place after a crash during qualifying that led to the withdrawal of Tresor Attempto Racing.

Klaus Bachler rounded out the overall top five at the wheel of the No. 24 Dinamic GT Porsche, with Jon Miller sixth for Huber Motorsport.

Ryan Dalziel picked up seventh behind the wheel of the No. 81 Era Motorsport Ferrari, ahead of the No. 96  GWR Australia Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the hands of Glen Wood.

Rob Huff took the No. 31 Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3 into the top ten in ninth overall, 0.021 seconds ahead of the No. 7 SMP Racing Mercedes-AMG piloted by Sergey Sirotkin.

In GT4, Michael Simpson set the pace at the wheel of the No. 459 Team CMR Ginetta G56 GT4 EVO, setting a 2:09.570.

The 20th running of the Michelin 24H Dubai kicks off Saturday at 1 p.m. GST (4 a.m. ET), with a 30-minute warmup session scheduled for 9:40 a.m. local time (0:40 a.m. ET).