Dubai 24 Hour

Dubai 24 Hour

Category	Endurance
Country or region	United Arab Emirates
Inaugural season	2006
Drivers	Varies
Teams	Varies
Tyre suppliers	Dunlop
Official website	Dubai 24Hour
Current season

The Dubai 24 Hour Race is both a sports car and touring car automobile endurance race held annually at the Dubai Autodrome. It was inaugurated in 2006 and serves as a one of the ultimate tests for both the endurance of the driver and machine.

Entrants and participants

Dubai Autodrome Track Map

According to the official website of the Dubai 24Hour, the Endurance race is open to both professional and semi-professional teams. There are both local competitors from the UAE and surrounding nations in the Persian Gulf as well as a host of international teams particularly from European nations.^[1]

Unlike the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France whereby teams are invited by the organizers to compete, the Dubai 24 Hour is solely made up of teams who have registered prior to the commencing of the actual race. Entrants must file in a registration application in order to have a chance at competing. Entry and registration fees also apply for competitors.

Class structure

The race features both a variety of Grand Tourer (GT), touring cars as well as specially-built silhouette cars from a wide range of marques which are eligible to enter. These range from small-engined Super 2000 hatchbacks (such as the Renault Clio and Honda Civic) to racing-bred sport cars (such as the Porsche 911 GT3 & Marcos Mantis GT).^[2]

A method of performance-balancing by the organisers of the event is existent throughout many of the classes featured in the Endurance Race. An example of this can be witnessed in the A2 Class whereby Super 1600 cars race alongside Super 2000 and run on equal performance as the 1,600-cc cars are allowed to carry less weight. Other factors such as a larger fuel tank and also the tire manufacturer for specific classes or ensure even competition.

Classes

A1

This is class restricted for subcompact cars. Cars with a maximum engine displacement of 1,300 cc can run on a minimum weight of 750 kg and an 80-litre fuel tank while cars with displacements up to 1,600 cc are run with a minimum weight of 820 kg and a 90-litre fuel tank. Cars that can feature in this class include the Honda Jazz, Honda Fit, Toyota Echo, Nissan Tiida as well as other makes.^[3]

A2

The A2 class features a host of Super 1600 and Super 2000 vehicles. These cars generally feature hatchback and small sedan vehicles. The engine displacement range in this class is between 1,600 cc and 2,000 cc and turbocharging for performance enhancement is not allowed. 1,600-cc to 1,800-cc vehicles can have a minimum weight of 900 kg while 1,800-cc to 2,000-cc cars are to have a minimum weight of 980 kg.^[2] Compact cars generally make up the field for the A2 Class with the most common makes being the Renault Clio Sport and the Honda Civic Type-R.^[3]

A3T

This class is specifically for cars with engine displacement up to 2,500 cc their engine is enhanced by a turbocharger. In other words only vehicles which are turbocharged are eligible to compete in the class. All cars in this class run on 100-litre fuel tanks regardless of engine displacement or car weight.^[2] In the 2009 version of the race, the class was mainly made up of Turbodiesel or TDI compact cars such as the SEAT Leon Super Copa and the Volkswagen Golf R-Line.^[3]

A4

The A4 Class is made-up entirely of mid-size cars with an engine displacement between 2,000 cc and 3,000 cc. Due to the wide nature of eligibility of this class, there are certain restrictions on larger engine vehicles. Cars between 2,000 cc and 2,500 cc can have a minimum weight of 1,000 kg while cars between 2,500 cc and 3,000 cc are to have a minimum weight of 1,100 kg.^[2] In the 2009, Dubai 24 Hour, the class featured three BMW 130i, a BMW Z4 Coupe and a Porsche 964 Carrera.^[3]

A5

The A5 class pits genuine FIA-GT4 category cars against each however, the cars in this class are to have a maximum displacement of 3,500 cc. Most of the vehicles in this class are sports car coupes with V8, 3.0L+ egines. All cars are required to weigh at least 1,200 kg and utilise a 120-litre fuel tank which are stantard across the category.^[2] The 2009 24 Hour Race saw an entire field of a number of makes from the German manufacturer BMW ranging from Z4 Coupes to modified M3 GT-Rs.^[3]

A6

This is the highest echolon of Petrol-driven vehicles in the race and is also the quickest category in the race. It features a host of FIA-approved GT3 Category cars from across the globe. The vehicles must have at least 3,500 cc of engine displacement and cannot exceed 4,000 cc. Due to the vehicles with 3,750 cc to 4,000 cc having an acceleration and top-speed edge than the makes below 3,750 cc, they must carry at least 1,300 kg of weight, thus being the heaviest of the entire race and can only have tanks capable of carrying 90 litres of fuel.^[2] Vehicles below this, can have a minimum weight limit of 1,150 kg and a 120-litre fuel tank. The field is usually occupied with nothing but Porsche 911 GT3 cars.^[3]

D1

The first of the diesel powered-car classes, this class aims at drawing together an array of vehicles driven on diesel for the full duration of the race. D1 features vehicles with Engine displacements up to 2,000 cc, which is ideal for smaller-sized hatchback TDI vehicles.^[2] This is why the 2009 grid saw an array of European hatchbacks including the VW Scirocco R, SEAT León TDI and BMW 120d.^[3]

D2

The D2 class caters for diesel-powered vehicles exceeding the limit of 2,000 cc in D1. Generally, mid-sized & full-sized cars occupy the grid. Turbocharging is permitted in this class but handicaps apply to higher displacement vehicles. For example cars with 2,500 cc to 3,000 cc must meet the minimum limit of 1,200 kg while cars below that displacement have a minimum weight limit of 1,100 kg.^[2] A number of BMW 120d makes featured in the class in the 2009 race as well as a BMW 320d.^[3]

SP1

The SP1 class is the first of the Special Cars class and houses silhouette petrol-driven racing cars which have modified chassis to their production counterparts. SP1 sees a mix of uniquely-designed vehicles built specifically for high-powered Touring car racing. The vehicles in this category often vary in great lengths in engine size, power and vehicle weight, therefore, vehicles who fit the Solution F category ^[4] can have a minimum weigt of just 950 kg and a 120-litre fuel tank. Other silhouette cars with engines up 3,200 cc of displacement can have a minimum weight of 975 kg and are restricted to a 100-litre fuel tank. Cars with 3,200 cc to 3,600 cc must have a weight of at least 1,050 kg and a fuel tank with a capacity of 100L.^[2]

SP2 GT3-A

This is a class reserved for FIA GT3 entrants whose vehicles surpass the 4,000-cc Engine displacement limit for the A6 cars and also for GT3 cars which have 6+ cylinders.

SP3 GT4-A

This is a class similar to the SP2 GT3-A category and it is reserved for FIA GT4-spec vehicles. There are performance balancing measures enforced by the racing organzisers to balance out the field in the class. Depending on the Engine discplacement of the vehicle an entrant will be assigned a minimum weight limit of either 750 kg or 1,200 kg and also a fuel tank capacity limit of either 120 litres or 100 litres.

SP4

This is the newest class for the race and is solely for hybrid vehicle racing cars and electric-powered race cars.^[2] It will be running for the first time in 2010 edition of the Dubai 24 Hour. There are currently no performance balancing measures as of yet for the class.

Race winners

Year	Drivers	Team	Car	Laps	Distance[5]	Fastest Lap
2011	Augusto Farfus Edward Sandström Tommy Milner Claudia Hürtgen	Need for Speed by Schubert Motorsport	BMW Z4 GT3	594	3201.66	2:04.858
2010	Raymond Narac Patrick Pilet Marco Holzer	IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	608	3277.12	2:10.057
2009	Jürgen Häring Taki Konstantinou René Münnich Marc Basseng	Land Motorsport	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	573	3088.47	2:07.319
2008	Klark Quinn Tony Quinn Craig Baird Jonathon Webb	VIP Pet Foods	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	504	2716.56	2:03.334
2007	Dieter Quester Philipp Peter Dirk Werner Jamie Campbell-Walter	Duller Motorsport	BMW Z4 Coupe	567	3056.13	2:04.435
2006	Dieter Quester Hans Joachim Stuck Philipp Peter Toto Wolff	Duller Motorsport	BMW M3 CSL	519	2797.41	2:10.057

References

1. ^ "Race Philosiphy". Dubai 24 Hour. http://www.24hdubai.com/default.asp?page=34. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} "2009 Eligibility & Class structure list". Creventic. http://web.creventic.com/website/files/24hDubai2010_reglementen/Eligible_cars_and_classes_12hHongary2009_24hDubai2010_version_21july2009_A4.pdf. Retrieved January 1, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Class Entry list". Dubai 24Hour. http://www.24hdubai.com/default.asp?t_klasse=select&t_carfuel=select&t_land=select&t_str=&Submit=Search&eventID=1&page=264. Retrieved January 1, 2010. 
4. ^ "Solution F Information". The Race of Champions. http://www.raceofchampions.com/en/cars/solution-f-prototype-3. Retrieved January 1, 2010. 
5. ^ Note: Distance is calculated by Laps completed & measured in Kilometres