Yas Marina Friday Notebook

***This year’s edition of the Gulf 12 Hours marks the final time it features as a round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli as is it set to revert to its previous Pro-Am format next year.

***Organizer Driving Force Events announced a new title sponsorship deal with technology company Lenovo. Lenovo branding will feature throughout the event, including on the windshield banner of all cars, while the event will be titled as the Lenovo Gulf 12 Hours.

***Event promoter Andrea Ficarelli said: “This partnership represents a step forward for our race, now a classic in the Middle East and the very last fixture of the year for GT fans worldwide after an intense season of motorsport action.”

***Porsche has nominated three Pro-Am cars (one each from Earl Bamber Motorsport, Car Collection Motorsport and Herberth Motorsport) for IGTC manufacturers’ points at Yas Marina, as well as an additional Am-class entry from Herberth.

*** The No. 4 EBM and No. 33 Herberth Porsches, as well as the No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo and the No. 93 Sky Tempesta McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, meanwhile, are Independent Cup entries. The full list can be viewed here.

***SunEnergy1’s Kenny Habul, who took Pro-Am honors at Yas Marina a year ago, expects a tough fight ahead to retain the crown for a second consecutive year. “This is very competitive,” Habul told Sportscar365. “I feel like it’s more Pro-Am cars than I’ve seen in a long time. A huge contingent from Ferrari. We’ll see. I mean, we’ve got two good pros in Dominik Baumann and Philip Ellis. We were lucky enough to win here last year with Marty [Konrad] and Philip.”

***Track action kicked off on Thursday night with the first of four open practice test sessions, with the remaining three all taking place on Friday. It concluded with a mandatory night practice on Friday evening, during which Joel Sturm set the fastest time across the two days of running by steering the No. 21 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche to a best lap of 1:52.172. RESULTS:Test 1/Test 2/Test 3/Test 4

***Two cars completed no mileage across the four sessions: one of the Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3’s, as well the Baron Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020. A Gulf 12H spokesperson told Sportscar365 that the latter was experiencing logistical difficulties that forced it to miss Friday running.

***The No. 77 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing entry for Lucas Auer, Frank Bird and Lorenzo Ferrari lost time in the second session with an issue that that brought the car to a halt. A Mercedes-AMG spokesperson described the problem as involving a ‘loose plug’ that triggered the safety systems. The car then went absent from the second session of the day, but that was due to unrelated setup tweaks. It returned to the track for Friday evening running.

***GruppeM driver Maro Engel anticipates rapid lap times in Saturday’s qualifying session could be possible, given the strong track conditions compared to the previous edition of the the event. “To be honest the track was relatively quick last night already,” Engel told Sportscar365. “So we were quite surprised at how quick compared to last year’s first practice. So if that trend continues then we might see really fast lap times in qualifying or faster lap times than last year. But it’s anyone’s guess at the moment sort of where it will end up.”

***Engel, Lucas Auer and Maximilian Goetz took pole position last year as part of a front-row lockout for the Hong Kong-based squad, setting an average time of 1:51.474. The combined-time format, without a Super Pole session, has been retained for this year.

***The 18-car Clio Cup Middle East forms the sole support series at the event, with the previously announced six-hour support race featuring GT Cup and GT4 class machinery dropping off the schedule.

***New Zealand racer Richie Stanaway is set for his first GT3 start since the 2016 Nürburgring 24, stepping into the lineup for the  No. 4 Grove Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside the father-and-son pairing of Stephen and Brenton Grove. The team contested previous rounds with Earl Bamber and Anton de Pasquale as part of its lineup.

***Audi Sport customer racing has brought a parts truck to the event. The hauler, which is fitted with German license plates, was also present at last year’s event and has appeared at the Hankook 24H Dubai as well. The Ingolstadt marque is represented by a single car: the No. 2 HAAS RT R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

***Mattia Drudi, who claimed the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup title with Tresor Orange 1 earlier this year, announced on Thursday that he would be parting ways with Audi after five years as a factory driver.

“Danke Chris Reinke, Dirk Spohr, Rolf Michl, Dieter Gass, Allan McNish and everyone I had the pleasure to work with,” Drudi wrote on his Instagram. “Everyone at Audi but as well all team members and team mates I met! Danke to everyone who made that young shy kid into who I am today.  I always wore the ‘four rings’ proudly and they will always have a special place in my heart!”

***Team WRT driver Nick Yelloly is going to his first GT3 race at Yas Marina Circuit this weekend, although he has experience of the current layout from a test with the Aston Martin Formula 1 team in 2021. “It’s so different for me,” he told Sportscar365. “I went into every corner for the first few laps yesterday and thought I’d braked early and went off.”

***Valentino Rossi expressed satisfaction reflecting upon his first year with BMW M Motorsport, labeling his Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup victory in front of his home fans at Misano as a particular highlight.

***Rossi said: “I’m happy about this year because I improved the performance a lot compared to last year and we won in Misano. It was great but we [scored] some other podiums also and I did some great races, like Bathurst for example, and I did also the Road to Le Mans to get prepared for next year. So it’s a great experience.”

***Part of Thursday’s activities included a leg of the Mille Miglia Experience UAE, a grand tour rally for classic cars and modern luxury machinery that started in Dubai and completed a route through the country as well as visiting Oman, before finishing in Abu Dhabi.

***Saturday will see a packed schedule, consisting of a pair of Free Practice sessions followed by qualifying  at 6 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). Qualifying will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel, with a broadcast team consisting of David Addison, Mark Werrell, Alan Hyde and Tim Fullbrook.