Team WRT Withdraws from 24H Dubai

Defending Hankook 24H Dubai winners Team WRT have withdrawn from this year’s edition of the Middle Eastern enduro following the event’s two-week postponement from the original date to the end of January.

The Vincent Vosse-led squad won the previous two editions of the race, most recently delivering the BMW M4 GT3 its first 24-hour race win with Mohammed Al Saud, Diego Menchaca, Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer, Jens Klingmann and Dries Vanthoor.

In a statement on social media, the Belgian squad confirmed that its pair of BMW M4 GT3’s will not take place in Creventic’s flagship event.

“Team WRT has taken the decision to withdraw from the 2024 24 Hours of Dubai,” it wrote.

“Due to the postponement of date for the event, Team WRT has withdrawn its two BMW M4 GT3 entries from the UAE race.

“With no risk of delays to kit and cars returning from Dubai, it ensures the Belgian squad respects its original preparation plan for the rest of the 2024 season. We wish the best of luck to those participating and hope to join you all again in 2025!”

The withdrawal comes after Creventic’s decision to push back the date for the event by two weeks after safety concerns around the Red Sea led to shipping delays that made it impossible to hold the race on the original Jan. 13-14 date.

Instead, it was moved to Jan. 27-28, creating a clash with the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The confirmation of WRT’s withdrawal comes less than a week after event organizers released an updated entry list, at which time the pair of BMWs was still listed as part of a 26-car GT3 grid.

An newly updated list issued by Creventic on Thursday no longer features WRT’s pair of BMWs, with the number of GT3 entries dropping to 24 as a result.

BMW is still represented on the Dubai GT3 grid by a pair of cars from Century Motorsport. WRT, meanwhile, will go absent from the race for the first time since 2015.