Rescued from disaster by a rival, Team Abu Dhabi Black Falcon didn’t waste its second chance, qualifying on the pole for the 2013 Dunlop Abu Dhabi 24 Hours.
The team’s A6-class #1 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, piloted by Jeroen Bleekemolen, qualified with a lap of 1:59.104, one of only four cars to break two minutes around the 5.39 km, 16-turn Dubai Autodrome course.
Not a bad result for a team which thought it might not make the race.
Khaled Qubaisi crashed heavily in practice, destroying the back half of the teams Mercedes. With no way to repair the damage, the team considered trying to airlift a new chassis from Germany; failing that, the team might have to withdraw.
Since these were the defending 2012 winners, with three of the four winning drivers (Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards and Khaled al Qubaisi) losing the #1 Black Falcon Mercedes would be a blow for the team of course, but also for the fans, organizers, and the competition (well, some of the competition might not have minded.)
One competitor isn’t afraid to face the Black Falcon Mercedes on track and proved it: Preci-Spark, a British team with five family members driving, sold its back-up chassis to Abu Dhabi Black Falcon. The Black Falcon crew set it up to suit its drivers, and qualified first.
“They put the engine, the gearbox, the fuel tank, the suspension and many other parts from the original car in and really did an amazing job, because the car felt great,” Bleekemolen told Speedtv.com. “The fact that I was able to claim pole on what was only my third lap of the weekend at the Dubai Autodrome is almost unbelievable.”
That Bleekemolen could capture pole in a hastily assembled car (the team didn’t even have time to paint it—the car ran in Preci-spark colors) gives notice to all the other contenders that
Preci-Spark, in its similar Mercedes SLS, qualified 17th.
Attempto Racing put its #26 Porsche 997 GT3 R into second place on the grid with a lap of 1:59.485, 0.381 slower than Bleekemolen’s. Craft Racing AMR put its Aston Martin Vantage GT3 third with a lap of 1:59.676, .572 off the leader.
The top 14 A6 (GT3) qualifiers all qualified quicker than 2:03, much faster than the 2:05 lap limit imposed on Pro-Am teams. This means all these cars will be carrying 30 kg of ballast, running at a raised ride height, and taking only 115 liters of fuel at each pit stop.
It also means the top 14 cars will be driving flat-out throughout the race. Unhindered by target lap times, these teams will going for maximum performance—exactly the result the organizers hoped for when they created the new sporting regulations.
Other Classes
Eighty-two cars qualified, divided into nine classes. Here is a brief rundown of the class pole winners:
Black Falcon Team TMD Friction qualified quickest in the Porsche 997 class and 15th overall with a lap of 2:03.944, 4.84 seconds from the pole time. Crucible Sport took second in class (16th overall) at 2:04.378.
JR Motorsport was quickest of the A5 cars (Touring Cars to 3.5 liters) with its BMW E46 GTR, clocking a time of 2:14.805, 15.701 seconds off the A6 pole.
Besaplatst Racing took the top spot in the SP2 class (GT and tube-frame cars) with its Audi TT RS, ahead of Equipe Verschuur’s Renault Megane Trophy.
GT Academy took the top two spots in SP3 (GT4) with its Nissan 370Zs, both cars about ten seconds slower than the fastest A6 class. JR Motorsport won the A5 (Touring Car to 3.5 liters) pole with its BMW E46 GTR, 15.7 seconds back.
A4 (Touring Cars to 3 liters) went to YMOR by Bas Koeten Racing’s BMW Z3 M Coupe, while A3T (Turbocharged Tourers up to 2 liters) was snatched by All-Inkl.Com Münnich Motors’ Seat Leon Supercopa, 15.3 seconds slower than overall pole (and half a second faster than the A4 pole.)
A2 (Tourers to 2 liters or turbo tourers to 1600 cc) went to another Besaplast Racing car, this time the team’s mini Cooper S, 21.62 seconds slower than Bleekemolen’s pole time.
Finally, Red Camel-Jordans.nl took the D1 diesel class pole with its Seat Leon 2.0 Tdi, 27.37 seconds slower than the quickest time.
The eighth Dubai 23 Hours takes the green flag at 2 p.m. local (5 a.m.ET) on Friday, Jan. 11. Follow the action via live streaming at 24hDubai.com.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 20 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
[etssp 594]
| Qualifying Resultes 2013 Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai | ||||||||
|
| # | Cls | PIC | Name / Entrant | Car | Time | Gap |
|
| 1 | 1 | A6 | 1 | Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon 1 | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 | 1:59.104 |
|
|
| 2 | 26 | A6 | 2 | Attempto Racing 1 | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 1:59.485 | 0.381 |
|
| 3 | 15 | A6 | 3 | Craft Racing AMR | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 1:59.676 | 0.572 |
|
| 4 | 24 | A6 | 4 | Saudi Falcons Team Schubert 2 | BMW Z4 GT3 | 1:59.711 | 0.607 |
|
| 5 | 12 | A6 | 5 | Saudi Falcons Team Schubert 1 | BMW Z4 GT3 | 2:00.046 | 0.942 |
|
| 6 | 17 | A6 | 6 | Lapidus Racing | McLaren MP4-12C GT3 | 2:00.088 | 0.984 |
|
| 7 | 18 | A6 | 7 | Visiom Jean Paul Pagny | Ferrari F458 GT2 | 2:00.093 | 0.989 |
|
| 8 | 19 | A6 | 8 | JLOC | Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ | 2:00.527 | 1.423 |
|
| 9 | 10 | A6 | 9 | MRS GT-Racing | McLaren MP4-12C GT3 | 2:00.800 | 1.696 |
|
| 10 | 16 | A6 | 10 | AF Corse SRL 2 | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 2:01.543 | 2.439 |
|
| 11 | 30 | A6 | 11 | Ram Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 2:01.560 | 2.456 |
|
| 12 | 14 | A6 | 12 | De Lorenzi Racing /Gianluca de Lorenzi | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 | 2:02.225 | 3.121 |
|
| 13 | 9 | A6 | 13 | Gulf Racing Middle East 1 | Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 | 2:02.292 | 3.188 |
|
| 14 | 2 | A6 | 14 | Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon 2 | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 | 2:02.339 | 3.235 |
|
| 15 | 44 | 997 | 1 | Black Falcon Team TMD Friction | Porsche 997 Cup | 2:03.944 | 4.840 |
|
| 16 | 41 | 997 | 2 | Crubile Sport/ Sebastien Crubilé | Porsche 997 Cup | 2:04.378 | 5.274 |
|
| 17 | 25 | A6 | 15 | Preci-Spark | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 | 2:05.035 | 5.931 |
|
| 18 | 88 | A6 | 16 | Dragon Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 2:05.161 | 6.057 |
|
| 19 | 20 | A6 | 17 | Stadler Motorsport | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 2:05.220 | 6.116 |
|
| 20 | 28 | A6 | 18 | Attempto Racing 2 | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 2:05.261 | 6.157 |
|
| 21 | 8 | A6 | 19 | Fach Auto Tech 2/ Fach Auto Tech Motorsport GmbH | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 2:05.492 | 6.388 |
|
| 220 | 11 | A6 A6 | 20 | AF Corse SRL 1 | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 2:05.530 | 6.426 |
|
| 23 | 133 | A6 | 20 | V8 Racing BV | Chevrolet Corvette C6/Z06 | 2:05.659 | 6.555 |
|
