Team WRT Leads 24H Dubai at Halfway Point

Team WRT controls the Hankook 24H Dubai with half of the race completed, leading the race by multiple laps and running in the top three with both of its cars.

The No. 7 BMW M4 GT3 holds the overall lead in the hands of Diego Menchaca, holding a lead of over a minute over the No. 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R of Robert Renauer. The German squad leads GT3 Pro-Am.

Maxime Martin rounds out the top three aboard the No. 46 BMW, the car having recovered from an early-race brush with the barriers for Bronze-rated driver Tim Whale.

The No. 7 car captured the race lead in the fourth hour when Menchaca’s co-driver Jens Klingmann overtook the No. 21 HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Olivier Bertels.

When the Audi subsequently dropped back slightly, it made way for the Herberth Porsche which has run in second for several hours but remains out of striking distance of the leading BMW.

HAAS RT sits in fourth having suffered a minor delay thanks to a right-rear puncture in the eleventh hour, but continues to run within the top five after starting 43rd overall following an overnight engine change before the race.

Grove Racing’s Anton De Pasquale fills out the top five leading a trio of Porsches that includes Herberth’s all-American crewed No. 92 car and Team GP-Elite.

They sit ahead of GT3 Am leaders CP Racing who run eighth, with Roman de Angelis ninth for Heart of Racing by SPS. MP Motorsport completes the top ten.

Early frontrunners Haupt Racing Team have seen their challenge come to an end before the race reached the halfway stage, with both of its Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos capitulating within an hour of each other.

Sebastien Baud crashed the No. 4 Abu Dhabi Racing entry in a fiery accident at turn 14, followed less than an hour later by suspension damage for Luca Stolz’ No. 777 Al Manar Racing car that proved terminal.

Sainteloc Junior Team has similarly been eliminated with its No. 26 Audi after it suffered significant front-end damage when Erwan Bastard made contact with an unspecified Porsche.

Fach Auto Tech’s No. 962 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup leads the 992 class, while Razoon-More Than Racing holds a dominant ten-lap lead in the GTX class.

Benjamin Goethe sits out front in the GT4 class aboard the No. 408 ROFGO with Dragon Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. In TCR, the class lead is held No. 188 AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS TCR of Miklas Born.