Connect with us

Gulf 12H

Kessel Racing Wins Second Consecutive Gulf 12H

Kessel Racing wins Gulf 12 Hours in dominant performance…

Photo: Marcel ten Caat

Photo: Marcel ten Caat

Kessel Racing claimed a second consecutive victory in the sixth running of the Gulf 12 Hours, after dominating the second six-hour part of the race.

Giacomo Piccini, who shared driving duties with Michael Broniszewski and Davide Rigon, took the No. 11 Ferrari 488 GT3 across the line, 1 minute and 19.570 seconds ahead of Matt Griffin’s No. 88 Dragon Racing Ferrari 488 GT3.

Stuart Hall in the No. 16 GP Extreme Renault RS01 crossed the line in third place, two laps behind the race-winning Ferrari.

The Swiss team dominated the second part of the around-the-clock enduro at the Yas Marina Circuit, leading 160 of the 161 laps. Dragon Racing only led on lap 241, when the Kessel car made a pit stop.

Kessel’s victory marked the fifth win for Ferrari in six editions of the Gulf 12 Hours, with the Italian manufacturer claiming four of the top-five positions.

The team also claimed the Gentlemen class victory, following late-race drama for the No. 99 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R. The Porsche had a one-lap lead over the No. 77 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, but retired in the final hour with technical problems.

The Pro-Am class victory went to the No. 51 Spirit of Race Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, beating the No. 75 Optimum Motorsport Audi R8 LMS. With two hours remaining the Audi was leading the class, but a broken right rear spring platform dashed all hopes of a victory.

The No. 5 Graff Ligier JS P3 won the Proto class, finishing seventh overall. The car finished four laps ahead of the No. 23 United Autosports Ligier.

Third in class was the No. 22 United Autosports Ligier, ending the race 20 laps behind the class winning car.

The GTX class victory went to the No. 50 Scuderia Villorba Corse Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4. Second place went to the Dragon Racing Porsche Cayman GT4, with Brookspeed taking third place.

Marcel ten Caat (@marceltencaat) is a contributor to Sportscar365 and other publications including Autosport.nl.

5 Comments

More in Gulf 12H