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GT Racing
GT: Black Falcon Dominates 24H Dubai
Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards, Khaled Al Qubaisi score back-to-back victories, joined by factory driver Bernd Schneider in winning Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG...
Black Falcon's "backup" Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 didn't miss a beat through the 24 hours. (Photo: John Dagys)
Overcoming adversity after what initially appeared to be a weekend-ending crash less than 72 hours ago, Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon bounced back to score a dominant victory in the 8th running of the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai.
Khaled Al Qubaisi took the the freshly rebuilt Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 across the line two laps ahead of the second-placed No. 16 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia of Mika Salo, for back-to-back wins in the Middle East's premier enduro.
The win for Al Qubaisi and co-drivers Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards and Bernd Schneider came following a commanding performance and equally impressive turnaround by the German squad, which built up virtually a new car following the Emirati’s accident in testing on Wednesday.
After making up a three-lap deficit due early on, the gull-winged beast took over the lead in the 13th hour and enjoyed a spirited fight with the No. 24 Saudi Falcons Team Schubert BMW Z4 GT3, until the 2011 race winners slipped back overnight before retiring with less than five hours to go with engine failure.
The late-race misfortunes for Black Falcon’s closest competitor gave clear sailing for its No. 1 Mercedes, which ironically started the weekend as a spare car to fellow competitor, Preci-Spark, before being acquired and transformed into the eventual race-winning machine.
“When the crash happened [on Wednesday], the car looked so bad, we thought we were out of it,” Bleekemolen told SPEED.com. “It's unbelievable how they put it together, making the deal with the other team to get the chassis and then building it up, getting it ready for qualifying and then preparing it for the race.”
With the win, Bleekemolen becomes the most successful driver in the event’s relatively short history, having shared the winning Mercedes with Edwards and Al Qubaisi last year, as well as scoring a runner-up finish in 2008.
It wasn't all clear sailing for the Silver Arrow, though, as a series of full-course cautions (Code 60) and penalties, put the defending race winners behind early on. However, the winning entry managed to complete a hefty 600 laps, or 2,000 miles, although not breaking last year's distance record.
"Being three laps behind in the beginning, we got really hampered by the first two Code 60s,” Edwards explained. “Then eventually it came in our favor. We ran faultlessly. The car didn't miss a single beat. That's just a testament to Mercedes."
Unlike the Mercedes 1-2-3 sweep last year, three different manufacturers were represented on the podium, with the AF Corse Ferrari of Salo, Lorenzo Carvalho, Lorenzo Case and Marco Cioci finishing second, ahead of the No. 15 Craft Racing AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke, Darryl O’Young, Frank Yu and Tomonobu Fuijii in third in the Hong Kong-based team’s 24-hour debut.
A pair of Americans took victory in the SP3 class, with Shane Lewis and Vic Rice teaming with Henk Thijssen and Trevor Knight in their Cor Euser Racing Lotus Evora GT4.
The win came on Lewis’ 34th career 24-hour race start and was the first twice-around-the-clock enduro win for the U.S. duo since their class victory at the Nurburging 24 some two years ago.
"From qualifying on, we kind of knew that we just had to take care of the car,” Lewis said. “But it wan't easy. It looked dominant but it was not. We had some good breaks in the pits, some good pit stops and I had phenomenal co-drivers that took care of the car and that's what it was about here."
Rice added: "Last year was our first time here and we saw how great of an event it was... We had a good feeling about it coming in but we were guardedly optimistic. And now, we're over the moon with excitement."
Nissan's GT Academy-filled 370Z of Lucas Ordonez, Wolfgang Reip, Mark Schulzhitskiy, Roman Rusinov and 2012 U.S. winner, Steve Doherty, recovered after early race issues to finish second in class.
DragonSpeed, the only American team in the 82-car starting field, recorded an 11th place overall finish in the debut of its Audi R8 LMS ultra. Enzo Potolicchio, Eric Lux, Pierre Ehret, Peter Aronson and Hideki Francis Onda shared the wheel of the mid-engined sports car.
In addition to Black Falcon and the Cor Euser Lotus, other class winners included Fach Auto Tech (A6-Am), Equipe Verschuur (SP2), Crubile Sport (997 Cup), JR Motorsport (A5) and LAP57 Racing Team (A2).
RESULTS: Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai
PHOTOS: 24 Hours of Dubai
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
Khaled Al Qubaisi took the the freshly rebuilt Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 across the line two laps ahead of the second-placed No. 16 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia of Mika Salo, for back-to-back wins in the Middle East's premier enduro.
The win for Al Qubaisi and co-drivers Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards and Bernd Schneider came following a commanding performance and equally impressive turnaround by the German squad, which built up virtually a new car following the Emirati’s accident in testing on Wednesday.
After making up a three-lap deficit due early on, the gull-winged beast took over the lead in the 13th hour and enjoyed a spirited fight with the No. 24 Saudi Falcons Team Schubert BMW Z4 GT3, until the 2011 race winners slipped back overnight before retiring with less than five hours to go with engine failure.
The late-race misfortunes for Black Falcon’s closest competitor gave clear sailing for its No. 1 Mercedes, which ironically started the weekend as a spare car to fellow competitor, Preci-Spark, before being acquired and transformed into the eventual race-winning machine.
“When the crash happened [on Wednesday], the car looked so bad, we thought we were out of it,” Bleekemolen told SPEED.com. “It's unbelievable how they put it together, making the deal with the other team to get the chassis and then building it up, getting it ready for qualifying and then preparing it for the race.”
With the win, Bleekemolen becomes the most successful driver in the event’s relatively short history, having shared the winning Mercedes with Edwards and Al Qubaisi last year, as well as scoring a runner-up finish in 2008.
It wasn't all clear sailing for the Silver Arrow, though, as a series of full-course cautions (Code 60) and penalties, put the defending race winners behind early on. However, the winning entry managed to complete a hefty 600 laps, or 2,000 miles, although not breaking last year's distance record.
"Being three laps behind in the beginning, we got really hampered by the first two Code 60s,” Edwards explained. “Then eventually it came in our favor. We ran faultlessly. The car didn't miss a single beat. That's just a testament to Mercedes."
Unlike the Mercedes 1-2-3 sweep last year, three different manufacturers were represented on the podium, with the AF Corse Ferrari of Salo, Lorenzo Carvalho, Lorenzo Case and Marco Cioci finishing second, ahead of the No. 15 Craft Racing AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke, Darryl O’Young, Frank Yu and Tomonobu Fuijii in third in the Hong Kong-based team’s 24-hour debut.
A pair of Americans took victory in the SP3 class, with Shane Lewis and Vic Rice teaming with Henk Thijssen and Trevor Knight in their Cor Euser Racing Lotus Evora GT4.
The win came on Lewis’ 34th career 24-hour race start and was the first twice-around-the-clock enduro win for the U.S. duo since their class victory at the Nurburging 24 some two years ago.
"From qualifying on, we kind of knew that we just had to take care of the car,” Lewis said. “But it wan't easy. It looked dominant but it was not. We had some good breaks in the pits, some good pit stops and I had phenomenal co-drivers that took care of the car and that's what it was about here."
Rice added: "Last year was our first time here and we saw how great of an event it was... We had a good feeling about it coming in but we were guardedly optimistic. And now, we're over the moon with excitement."
Nissan's GT Academy-filled 370Z of Lucas Ordonez, Wolfgang Reip, Mark Schulzhitskiy, Roman Rusinov and 2012 U.S. winner, Steve Doherty, recovered after early race issues to finish second in class.
DragonSpeed, the only American team in the 82-car starting field, recorded an 11th place overall finish in the debut of its Audi R8 LMS ultra. Enzo Potolicchio, Eric Lux, Pierre Ehret, Peter Aronson and Hideki Francis Onda shared the wheel of the mid-engined sports car.
In addition to Black Falcon and the Cor Euser Lotus, other class winners included Fach Auto Tech (A6-Am), Equipe Verschuur (SP2), Crubile Sport (997 Cup), JR Motorsport (A5) and LAP57 Racing Team (A2).
RESULTS: Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai
PHOTOS: 24 Hours of Dubai
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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