As the sun rises over the Dubai Autodrome, Mercedes maintains its grip on the Dubai 24 Hours.
The No. 3 Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 driven by Thomas Jäger has a lap lead and a huge advantage: by conserving fuel, the Black Falcon car has gained half-a-stint advantage over its rivals; in other words, by running a few laps longer before each pit stop, the team has gotten half a pit stop ahead of its opponents. By the end of the race, the Black Falcon car should be able to stay out while its opponents will need to make a final stop.
The Saudi Falcons by Schubert No. 1 BMW Z4 GT3 driven by Claudia Hürtgen is running second, 24 seconds ahead of the No.6 Heico Motorsport Mercedes of Christiaan Frankenhout.
All three cars are about as fast, and all have strong driver lineups. The Black Falcon team might be a bit stronger; Jeroen Bleekemolen and Sean Edwards in particular have proven masters of driving up to but not over the 2:05 reference time. If all three top cars keep running—and none have shown problems—the finishing order should be the same as the current running order now.
The Other Classes:
997: In 15th, the No. 41 Carworld Motorsport Porsche 977 GT3 Cup, 44 laps down, has a 32-lap lead over its closest competitor.
SP2: in 22nd, the No. 103 Las Moras Racing Renault Megane Trophy, 58 laps down—the VDS Mustang took the class lead when the Las Moras Megane ran out of gas on the course, but lost the lead five minutes before the top of the 17th hour when some of its bodywork came loose and started flapping dangerously. The VDS car also had a broken driveshaft—possibly a collision?
SP3: in 24th, the No. 116 Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G50, 54 laps down—the Ginetta was 12th in class early in the race, and has fought its way back to lead its class.;
A2: in 27th, the #80 Besaplast Racing Team 2 BMW Mini, 64 laps down—this car has run flawlessly all day and night; it has never been threatened.
A5: in 41th, Le Duigou Racing BMW 130I Cup, 99 laps down—the former class-leading Kuepperracing BMW E46 Coupe lost its lead through multiple pit stops, giving the Le Duigiou car a fifteen-lap lead.
[etssp 497]
