Sunday 12 / January / 2025
Dubai: Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair, Dan Harper, Max Hesse, Ben Tuck and Darren Leung sealed a memorable victory in the Michelin Dubai 24H race at the Dubai Autodrome on Sunday.
After qualifying in fourth place, the team delivered superb individual stint performances to clock up 589 laps of the demanding Dubai circuit in 24 hours and pass the chequered flag a lap ahead of second-placed Pure Rxcing and their crew of Thomas Preining, Harry King, Alexey Nesov and Aliaksandr Malykhin. The team led for 255 laps of the race.
The Dinamic GT Porsche 911 came home in third and the SMP Racing Mercedes finished fourth.
For Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair it was a career-defining moment and a fitting start to Al-Manar Racing’s new partnership with Team WRT with the BMW M4 GT3 Evo.
Al-Zubair said: “What an amazing feeling! I've been trying to win this race for a couple of years now and I started to think that it was not meant to be (laughs). First race with the BMW M4 GT3 Evo, first race with Team WRT, it couldn't have started better than to win the 24 Hours of Dubai. I’m extremely proud to do it under the Al-Manar Racing banner and hopefully it’s the start of a successful journey.”
Vincent Vose, CEO of WRT, added: "What a way to start the 2025 season and our partnership with Al-Manar Racing. It’s a huge achievement to claim the win on the debut of the BMW M4 GT3 Evo. It was a race of determination and executing the perfect strategy. The crew made zero mistakes and performed flawless pitstops and we know that makes all the difference in these races, so a monumental congratulations to them. I take my hat off to the drivers. It is the first time they have all raced together and in a new car, so I am very proud that we have been able to give them their first overall win at the Dubai 24H and marking our fourth victory here. This makes me very excited for the year ahead!”
Hesse took the wheel for the start of the opening stint and managed to lift the BMW M4 into third place behind the early pace-setting Paradine Competition BMW and the Winward Racing Mercedes. With just over 40 minutes of the race gone, he then moved into second place and led the race after the first hour and the opening 30 laps.
Leung took over after 33 laps and the first pit stop, was able to maintain the GT3 class advantage but lost the outright lead during the changeover. He then slipped back to third in the GT3 category behind Dinamic GT and Pure Rxcing and into sixth overall.
Al-Zubair was next to take over the hot seat with the BMW down in eighth and fourth of the GT3 runners. The Omani delivered an impressive performance to guide the Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT car to the top of the standings before the hand-over to Harper. He then became embroiled in a tussle with Loek Hartog of Dinamic GT for the race lead with a little over 18 hours to go.
Lueng then took over and the team hit the front again with the Pure Rxcing Porsche running in second with over 16 hours on the clock. Hesse then took the wheel for the evening stint and he slipped back to third and second in GT3 after the changeover.
But the Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT crew were not to be denied and superb drives during the night stint and through the morning, after an intense three-way fight with Dinamic GT and Pure Rxcing, enabled Hesse to take the wheel for the final triumphant session to seal a memorable victory after 589 laps of demanding racing.
Leung, Harper and Hesse carried out the three qualifying sessions on Friday morning and managed to put the Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo in fourth place on the 62-car start grid behind Pure Rxcing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R, the Winward Racing Mercedes and Dinamic GT’s Porsche 911.
