Despite the challenges of a two week date change for the 2024 24H Dubai, the entry still number an impressive 57 cars.
We looked at the 23 GT3 cars entered here.
Here’s a review of the other classes.
992 24H SERIES Middle East Trophy contenders
As in GT3, and at the front of an incredibly strong 19-car class, three teams head into Dubai with 992 Teams’ 24H SERIES Middle East Trophy championship gold in-mind.
Red Camel-Jordans.nl (#909), currently at the top of the standings, has taken two class podiums in Dubai since 2019, and will run Breukers father-son trio Ivo, Rik and Luc alongside 2019 Overall TCE Drivers’ ‘Continents’ champion Fabian Danz.
One week on from its home six-hour race in Abu Dhabi, and just four points behind Red Camel, RABDAN Motorsport (#971) continues its affiliation with Fulgenzi Racing in Dubai. Team boss Saif Alameri took a class podium on his event debut in 2021, and headlines the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup driver line-up alongside Emirati teammates Salem Alketbi, Helal Almazrouei and Fahad Alzaabi – who all competed at the Hankook 24H DUBAI in 2022 and 2023 and Austria’s Christopher Zöchling.
On its first international motor racing program, KKrämer Racing (#936) is currently 3rd in the 992 standings. Team owner Karsten Krämer will compete for the third event in a row with Michele Di Martino, and the pair will be joined by Denis Remenyako (entering his different third class in three Hankook 24H DUBAI entries) and Fidel Leib, GTX class winner in 2021.
992
2022 992 Teams’ Europe’ champion, and last year’s category runner-up, Red Ant Racing (#903) will also be among the ‘992’ headliners in Dubai. Keen to regain its title, the Belgian team will run 2022 992 Drivers’ ‘Europe’ champions Ayrton and Yannick Redant alongside series debutants Peter Guelinkckx and Jef Machiels.
FACH AUTO TECH, which took a commanding 1-2 finish last year, returns to the event with a two-car line-up again for 2024: Paul Meijer, Jop Rappange, Ralph Poppelaars and Huub van Eijndhoven will pilot the Swiss team’s lead Porsche (#962), while Michael Hinderer, Marc Devis, Yves Scemama and Christian Traber will drive alongside Nico Verdonck in the 992-Am-entered 992 GT3 Cup (#961).
Fresh from its first Hankook 24H DUBAI class win in 2023, HRT Performance will make its 11 th start in the Hankook 24H DUBAI with a three-car line-up in 992-Am. Holger Harmsen and 2022 GTX Drivers’ ‘Continents’ champion Gregg Gorski are confirmed for the first of two standalone entries for the German team (#929), with the other set to be driven by Michael Blanchemain, series returnee Stéphane Adler, Jérôme Da Costa, Franck Lavergne and Franck Eburderie (#930).
For the second year in a row, HRT will also run an official entry for the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (‘QMMF by HRT’, #931). Qatari teammates Abdulla Ali Al Khelaifi, Ghanim Al Ali and Ibrahim Al Abdulghani will make their second consecutive starts in Dubai alongside Julian Hanses.
Similarly, and in addition to its GT3-AM entry, MRS GT-Racing, an event staple for more than a decade, returns with a standalone Porsche for Alexandr Artemyev, Antti Rammo, Nikolai Gadetskii and Alexey Denisov (#989), plus a collaborative entry with the returning Neuhofer Rennsport for Markus and Felix Neuhofer, Helmut Roedig, and Martin Ragginger.
24H SERIES staple Bas Koeten Racing, which took consecutive 991 class wins in 2021 and 2022, will also run a multi-car effort in 992-Am: Gijs Bessem and Bob Herber (also victorious in 2021 and 2022) headline the ‘NKPP Racing’ entry (#992) alongside Daan Meijer (winner in 2022) and Dante Rappange, while the distinctive ‘Team Captain America by Bas Koeten Racing’ Porsche (#925) will be driven by Curt Swearingin, Grant Talkie, Richard Edge, Pedro Torres and Kay Van Berlo.
Reigning TCR Teams’ champion Holmgaard Motorsport (#902) makes the jump to 992 for the first time in Dubai, doing so with brothers and 2023 992 Drivers’ ‘Europe’ champions Magnus and Jonas Holmgaard, and series debutants Patrick Steen Rasmussen, Darren Currie and Axle Donaldson.
Last year’s 992-AM Teams’ champion RPM Racing (#907) will also start its title defence in Dubai, with long-time teammates, and reigning 992-Am Drivers’ champions Tracy Krohn, Niclas Jönsson and Philip Hamprecht partnering Patrick Huisman in the UAE.
2020 Overall GT Teams’ ‘Continents’ champion SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#927) returns for its 11 th entry at the Hankook 24H DUBAI, and its first with a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup. Marlon Menden, who finished on the TCR podium last year, will team with Patrik Grütter – who joined the German team at Dubai and Spa last year, Stefan Beyer and Oleksiy Kikireshko.
PROsport Racing (#901), which won the Overall GT Teams’ championship in 2018 as ‘PROsport Performance,’ also makes its return to the Hankook 24H DUBAI. Keen to secure its first category win at the event, the German squad will team Simon Balcaen and Guillaume Dumarey, who also competed with PROsport in 2022, with Steven Palette and Jörg Viebahn, the latter of whom took a D1 class win on his event debut back in 2008.
Fresh from its series return at the Hankook 6H ABU DHABI, Prototype Cup Germany frontrunner Mühlner Motorsport (#921) has confirmed a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup for Bryan Sircely and Vladislav Lomko so far. The German team, which finished 3 rd overall on its most recent 24H SERIES outing in Portimão in 2020, makes its Hankook 24H DUBAI debut this year.
2017 CUP1 Teams’ champion DUWO Racing, a multi-time class podium finisher and 2014 ‘A4’ category winner, will collaborate again with SebLaJoux Racing in the UAE (#910). The latter’s namesake Sebastien Lajoux will lead the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup line-up alongside Lucas Walter, Benjamin Paque, Flynt Schuring, and Stéphane Perrin, the latter of whom took his second overall TCE win at the Hankook 24H DUBAI last year.
Series debutant SMP Racing (#937) rounds out the 992 runners, and has confirmed Russian compatriots Denis Remenyako, Aleksandr Bolduev and Alexandr Smolyar will drive with former Formula 1 drivers Sergey Sirotkin and Vitaliy Petrov. The car will be operated by KKrämer Racing.
GTX and GT4
GTX is set to feature a three-way fight for class honours between a brand-new sports car, a prototype sports car with one class win already under its belt, and a defending series champion.
Reigning GTX Teams’ 24H SERIES Middle East Trophy winner razoon, more than racing (#714) took a commanding win at last year’s Hankook 24H DUBAI, and will hope to do so again with Daniel Drexel (also a winner last year), Artur Chwist and Kuwaiti’s Haytham Qarajouli in the KTM X-BOW GTX. Kevin Woods joins the trio for Dubai.
Fresh from the car’s competitive debut in Kuwait, the new Vortex ‘2.0’ (#701) will start its first 24-hour race in Dubai with team owners, and brothers, Arnaud and Olivier Gomez alongside team staples Lionel Amrouche and Philippe Bonnel.
Significantly, Vortex V8 has finished two of the last three Hankook 24H DUBAIs on the GTX podium.
Toro Verde (#795) secured the first win for Ginetta’s developmental G56 Cup in Kuwait, and will look to repeat that accomplishment with the British marque’s CEO Lawrence Tomlinson, his son Freddie, Ginetta works driver Mike Simpson, and Formula E race winner Nico, son-of-four-time-Formula-1-World-Champion-Alain, Prost.
Across in GT4, Britain’s Simpson Motorsport (#438) continues its affiliation with the UAE’s AGMC Racing at the Hankook 24H DUBAI, and will look to secure its first event win with Fabian Duffieux, and the debuting Artur Dzhalilov, Ivan Krapivtsev, and Hugo Cook aboard the BMW M4 GT4.
Also running a G82-generation BMW M4 GT4 in Dubai, Century Motorsport (#429) has confirmed David Holloway, Piers Johnson, Nick Halstead and New Zealand’s Rianna O’Meara-Hunt. Ironically, the latter will share the grid with America’s The Heart of Racing, with whom she took two GT4 America race wins in her second full season of car racing.
Spain’s PCR Sport (#418) returns to the 24H SERIES with its Mercedes-AMG GT4, and is looking to make its maiden Hankook 24H DUBAI start with Keith Gatehouse and Jamie Day.
Following its 24H SERIES debut in Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s Continental Racing (#496) has entered its Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo for its 24-hour debut in Dubai, and will do so with Vasily Vladykin, Andrey Solukovtsev, David Pogosyan and Mikhail Loboda. This will mark the first time Toyota has been represented at the Hankook 24H DUBAI since 2015.
TCR and TCX
AC Motorsport (#188) headlines the TCR and TCX entrants in 2024. The Belgian team, which took overall TCE victory at the Hankook 24H DUBAI in 2020 and 2023, has entered its Audi RS 3 LMS TCR for Paul Sieljes, Thierry Chkondali, 2023 TCR Drivers’ runner-up Ivars Vallers, Artur Goroyan (who took TCR victory last year in Abu Dhabi), and British Touring Car legend James Kaye.
AC Motorsport’s closest competition will be Simpson Motorsport (#138), which has also entered a standalone Audi RS 3 LMS DSG alongside its BMW M4 GT4. The British team took TCR-class victory in Kuwait, and will hope to do so again in Dubai with series newcomers Andrei Muraveika and Ivan Stanchin, and Nadir Zuhour, who prepares for his 11th entry at the Hankook 24H DUBAI this month.
Back for its first Hankook 24H DUBAI since 2020, and its first 24H SERIES entry since last year’s Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Lotus PB Racing (#226) brings the evocative Lotus Elise Cup PB-R back to the Autodrome. The Italian customer of the classic British brand took a double A3 podium in Dubai in 2019, and features an all-Italian driver line-up courtesy of Vito Utzieri, Stefano Moretti, Maurizio Copetti, Emanuele Romani, and team principal, and former World Touring Car Championship race winner, Stefano d’Aste.
In an effort to repeat its 2018 class win, former SP3 and TCX Teams’ champion CWS Engineering (#278) will run its now traditional Ginetta G55s for Dale Albutt, Mark Griffiths, Dan Morris and team owner Colin White.
The British team is also set to run a second Ginetta (#277) for Morris, Neale Muston and Adam Hayes.
In addition to its 992 entry, SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#227) rounds out the TCR and TCX entrants with its Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS. The former outright series champion has taken three class wins in three different categories since 2017, and, fittingly, reunites Benito Tagle and Christoph Krombach, who took TCX victory last year, with long-time ‘Lionspeed GP’ teammates José Garcia and Patrick Kolb, and series newcomer Gero Bauknecht for the 2024 edition.
Following CREVENTIC’s track days on both the Tuesday and the Wednesday, plus private test sessions on the Thursday, the 19th Hankook 24H DUBAI kicks properly into gear with official Free Practice on Friday 26 th January at 10.00 hrs local time.
This will be followed by an unprecedented NINE qualifying sessions, incorporating TCE and GT4, GTX and 992, and GT3 respectively, between 14.40 hrs and 17.45 hrs.
Night Practice between 19.15 hrs and 20.45 hrs brings a full day of track activity to a close.
After a 30-minute morning warm-up session between 09.30 hrs and 10.00 hrs, the green flag for the Hankook 24H DUBAI itself is scheduled to fly at 13.00 hrs local time on Saturday 27 January, with the race running uninterrupted until 13.00 hrs on Sunday 28 January.
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January 18, 2024 at 01:00AM
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24H Dubai Entry: Part 2 – 992, GT4, GTX, TCR and TCX - Dailysportscar
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