WRT BMWs Among 32 GT3 Cars on Provisional Dubai Entry

A pair of BMW M4 GT3s from Team WRT are among the 32 GT3 cars signed up for the Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai in January, according to the provisional entry list.

After winning the race earlier this year with Audi, the decorated Belgian squad is set to embark on a defense of its Dubai crown under its new GT racing association with BMW, which has yet to be officially announced.

The WRT cars on the provisional entry are shown as No. 7 and No. 46, with the latter designation being familiar as the number used by motorcycle racing champion Valentino Rossi, who drove a WRT-prepared Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II across Europe this year.

Rossi told Sportscar365 at last month’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS season finale that he wants to enter some winter endurance races before returning to the championship next season.

Other GTWC Europe regulars on the Dubai entry list include Audi customers Sainteloc Junior Team, Attempto Racing and Car Collection Motorsport, as well as Mercedes-AMG outfits Akkodis-ASP, Haupt Racing Team and GetSpeed Performance.

Reigning Nürburgring 24 winner Phoenix Racing is set to run a single Audi, while Kenny Habul’s SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG program will be present with technical support from SPS Automotive Performance.

After entering the event in 2021, Inception Racing is returning to the 24 Hours of Dubai with its Optimum Motorsport-prepared McLaren 720S GT3. British team 7TSIX is also planning to represent McLaren with a pair of entries.

Half a dozen Porsche 911 GT3 Rs are listed between five different teams, with Herberth Motorsport bringing the two-car stable.

Spain’s E2P Racing is listed with a new 992-generation Porsche, whereas the other entries for the German manufacturer’s customers pertain to the outgoing 991.2 model.

Lamborghini teams Barwell Motorsport and Leipert Motorsport are also confirmed along with French squad Visiom, which is the only entrant with a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

Furthermore, there is an Audi registered under the ‘Haas RT’ banner although little is known about the entry which shares its name with a prominent American racing team.

The GT3 field, which will be divided into different driver lineup classes, makes up just over half of the total 90-car entry for the 18th running of the annual Dubai enduro.

A field of 21 cars is provisionally set to contest the 992 category for Porsche 911 GT3 Cups.

There are also nine GT4 cars from teams representing four manufacturers, as well as five TCR entries and six cars in TCX.

Dubai will form the middle leg of a new ‘Middle East Trophy’ organized by 24H Series promoter Creventic, which has combined its 2022-23 winter races in Kuwait, Dubai and Abu Dhabi into a mini-championship.