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Pure Rxcing made his fighting debut victory in the 2023 Hankook 6H ABU DHABI’s 24H SERIES with a stunning finish in the stands.
The Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R (#911, Aliaksandr Malykhin / Joel Sturm / Harry King) got off to a strong start at the Yas Marina Circuit in the afternoon, taking its first pole position in the Hankook-powered 24-hour series. The Lithuanian team then comfortably took the early lead, carrying that momentum into the main draw.
Ironically, Harry King’s speed – shaved almost 20 seconds off the opening time – was wiped out when the first of three safety car stages (used for the first time in a CREVENTIC event) were called, Neutralize the field and return to get up again. However, a pit stop shortly before the second safety car period will prove crucial, a strategic decision that saw Pure Rxcing head into the second half of the event ahead of its earlier rivals – including the HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II – There are enough advantages. A similar strategy executed by the “sister” Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91, Markus Neuhofer/Felix Neuhofer/Alfred Renauer/Robert Renauer) cemented the Porsche-vs-Porsche battle in the closing stages.
Herberth Porsche took the lead after the last round of pit stops, while Pure Rxcing Porsche also received 10 seconds extra time for overtaking outside the track, ending the race in a tense race. The gap to the leader, passed the top spot on the track and extended the lead to more than 17 seconds. All completed within 15 minutes before market close.
After a close race and a post-race penalty from Pure Rxcing, the two Porsches were separated by just 7.226 seconds in the final result.
“I thought every safety car this weekend was definitely against us! But our safety car restart was very strong and it proved to be crucial,” explained an elated Harry King after the race. “This is my first enduro race outside Hankook 24H Dubai last weekend and I’m delighted to win my first enduro win with Pure Rxcing.”
Pure Rxcing completed 165 laps of the 5.281km Yas Marina Circuit, just shy of the 166 completed by Baron Motorsport for victory in the 2022 event.
Herberth Motorsport continued its excellent comeback form by finishing second after starting 19th on the Hankook 6H ABU DHABI. The result means the Bavarian team has secured the GT3 constructors’ title in CREVENTIC’s new Middle East trophy.
Although the GT3 team honors were beaten by Herberth, the HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#21, Stéphane Perrin / Mathieu Detry / Maxime Soulet) finished third with CREVENTIC, completing another impressive weekend, An Team Tiguaia/Belgium set the fastest lap of the championship – 1m 54.144s by Maxime Soulet – on their way to the podium. Incredibly, on one stage, the former Bentley driver set a fastest lap of 1m 54.492s, with teammate Mathieu Detry second in three qualifying sessions earlier this afternoon. The same fastest lap time set in the race.
Defending European GT Trophy champions Phoenix Racing (#1, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Elia Erhart / Swen Herberger) recovered from a difficult start in which the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II finished a low of 16th in fourth name. This result earned the German team the GT3-PRO/AM Team Championship in the Middle East Trophy.
An incredible top four finish in just 21.860 seconds in the 2023 Hankook 6H ABU DHABI race.
Red Camel-Jordans.nl (#909, Ivo Breukers / Rik Breukers / Luc Breukers / Fabian Danz) put memories of a disappointing Hankook 24H DUBAI behind them with a strong 992 to top the 992-AM runners points, HRT performance (#928, Jim Rautiainen / Miika Panu). The latter battled sister QMMF in the HRT Thuraya Qatar Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (#929, Abdulla Ali Al Khelaifi / Ghanim Al Maadheed / Ibrahim Al Abdulghani / Julian Hanses), and the majority of the race was only for the latter , brutally, suffered a terminal brake problem with just 20 minutes left in the race.
Prioritizing fuel efficiency over speed, the HRT Performance Porsche 992 GT3 Cup (#930, Antti Buri / Kari-Pekka Laaksonen) looks set to take the final spot on the 992 podium for just the fourth and final HRT Performance entry ( #931 , Fidel Leib / Mikaeel Pitamber ) and the new 992 Team Middle East Trophy winner – Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors Porsche 992 GT3 Cup (#955, Fabrizio Broggi / Sergiu Nicolae / Sabino de Castro ) – killing laps on the final track .
The format of the 992 race was impressive, with five of the eight Porsche 992 GT3 Cup cars taking part in the overall top 10.
The ARC Bratislava Lamborghini Huracán GT3 (#44, Miro Konopka / Andrzej Lewandowski) had a solid race – from 20th on the grid to 10th, the Slovakian team securing victory in the GT3-AM race along the way. A lap further back, the JR Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 (#12, Ted van Vliet / Max Weering) was expected to finish in the top 10 but was penalized over two minutes for overtaking during the safety car.
razoon-more than racing KTM X-BOW GTX (#714, Dominik Olbert / Daniel Drexel / Haytham Qarajouli / Laura Kraihamer) won the hard-earned victory in GTX by less than 5 seconds faster than the Porsche 911 – and Very close to Victory II Cup series return, Tischner Motorsport (#763, Michael Tischner / Matthias Tischner / Uwe Kleen). With their recent class win at Hankook 24H DUBAI, Team Austria beat a disappointing Hankook 12H KUWAIT to secure Team GTX’s crown in the Middle East Trophy.
razoon’s closest title competitor – the Vortex V8 (#701, Lionel Amrouche / Julien Boillot / Philippe Bonnel) – ended up in fourth place behind the P21 Motorsport Porsche 991-II Cup (#721, Jose Monroy / Chris Hillaby / Rui Miritta), before stopping on the track in the closing stages of the race.
Less than a week after Aliyyah Koloc completed the Dakar Rally, the Buggyra ZM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#416, Aliyyah Koloc/Adam Lacko/David Vrsecky) returned to the 24-hour series with a GT4 victory. The Ram Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#405, James Thorpe/Philip Quaife/Philip Keen) ended up taking a bittersweet second place finish after a strong performance after being delayed early due to the fuel filler cap refusing to close.
The Simpson Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (#438, David Holloway/Vasily Vladykin/Carl Cavers) battled the Buggyra for the class lead in the opening hours but failed to finish the race as the British team was unable to replace a damaged alternator belt.
Series debut Sharky-Racing (#176, Artur Goroyan/Roman Mavlanov) came out on top in the heavily worn TCR class after a trouble-free run in his Audi RS 3 LMS, which lost power shortly after the first pit stop stop. Despite drivetrain issues, Wolf-Power Racing (#121, Jasmin Preisig / Ivars Vallers / Nicolas Baert / Ricky Coomber) finished second in the TCR after an intense qualifying session. Incredibly, the Audi RS3 LMS TCR was only 6 seconds behind the winner.
Despite recurring issues throughout the Middle East Trophy event, a podium finish in all three events meant the three-time TCE Team Overall Champion also secured the TCR Team Middle East Trophy title.
The first of two AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS TCRs (#188, Marcos Costantini/Niels Ulrich Nyboe/Jonas Karklys) finished third in class for their efforts: the leading Audi, which had already Fix, it lost more than an hour in the pits when its right rear suspension failed in turn five. Meanwhile, the #199 sisters (Paul Sieljes/Mato Matosevic/Victor Moutinho) finally retired after failing to find the source of their recurring gearbox problems.
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