Max Hesse led the 20th Michelin 24H Dubai at the end of the opening hour, fronting a BMW 1-2 ahead of Toby Sowery.
Hesse, piloting the No. 777 Al Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO, held a lead of under a second over Sowery’s No. 991 Paradine Competition-entered example.
The BMW factory driver fought past Sowery in the closing minutes of the first hour after the two drivers had jointly made their way to the head of the field.
Winward Racing led the early running after Gabriele Piana’s No. 16 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo charged past the pole sitting No. 92 Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R on the opening lap.
Alexey Nesov, who took the start in the Porsche, then was also overtaken by Sowery and Hesse before the 15-minute mark.
While Piana initially held a lead of just over three seconds over Sowery, the No. 991 car quickly chipped away at the Italian’s lead before making a move at Turn 9 after 40 minutes.
Hesse followed suit a few minutes later and moved into second, setting off in pursuit of Sowery before completing the pass to grab the lead.
Piana remained in third ahead of the No. 88 Dragon Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 in the hands of Matt Bell, while Nesov’s No. 92 Pure Rxcing Porsche dropped to fifth ahead of the No. 7 SMP Racing Mercedes-AMG in the hands of Sergey Sirotkin.
Brendon Leitch held the GTX lead aboard the No. 710 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2, with the No. 470 WS Racing BMW M4 GT4 out front in GT4.
Comtoyou Racing’s No. 41 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo became the race’s first retirement, falling victim to suspected gearbox/differential issues without completing a single racing lap.