A successful start to the 2010 motorsport year for Porsche: With the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, works driver Patrick Pilet (France) and Porsche Junior Marco Holzer (Germany), supported by Raymond Narac (France), won the Dubai 24 hour race by a clear margin. For Porsche, this marks the third straight win at the long distance race on the Gulf.
“This is my first victory at a 24 hour race. I’m totally happy,” said a delighted Marco Holzer (21) as he climbed out of the cockpit after the sweltering race with sweat-drenched overalls. “It’s a crazy feeling to cross the finish line and see all those cheering people at the pit wall.”
The 911 GT3 RSR fielded by the French IMSA Performance Matmut team turned the 608 laps on the 5.390 kilometer circuit in the Dubai Autodrome without any major mishaps. The most successful GT sports car of the 2009 season, with championship titles in the American Le Mans Series, the Le Mans Series and the FIA GT Championship, took off into the race from pole position to hold the lead for most of the time. Only one heart-stopping moment occurred in the first hour, when start driver Patrick Pilet collided whilst lapping a slower competitor, causing some damage to the rear axle of his Porsche. “Initially, we feared it would affect the tyres,” the Porsche works driver commented, “but luckily that was not the case. We were still able to attack and turn fast lap times to the finish.”
With this victory, Marco Holzer starts the new season as he finished the old one. With Richard Westbrook (Great Britain) he won the season final of the FIA GT Championship in Zolder, and now the 24 hour race in Dubai with Patrick Pilet and Raymond Narac. “Things can definitely continue like this,” said the Porsche Junior, who obviously enjoyed his first race for the IMSA Performance Matmut squad. “They were extremely welcoming and everyone helped me. A huge thank you for that.”
Porsche was by far the most successful manufacturer at the first long distance race of the season: Of the top ten race cars to finish, aside from the winning 911 GT3 RSR, seven were the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Dubai 24 Hour Race results
- M. Holzer/P. Pilet/R. Narac (D/F/F), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 608 laps
- N. Taniguchi/M. Yanagida/F. Hairuman/J. Stuck/H.Yoshida (J/J/MAL/A/J), BMW Z4 M, 605
- A. Al Faisal/C. Hürtgen/M. Hartung/K. Al Faisal (KSA/D/D/KSA), BMW Z4 M, 603
- J. Häring/T. Konstantinou/R. Münnich/M. Basseng (D/GR/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 588
- R. Lukas/M. M. Miekos/S. Bilinski/T. Myszkowski/A. Kornacki (PL/PL/PL/PL/PL), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 573
- H. Schmersal/M. Stursberg/S. Rösler/C. Koslowski (D/D/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 568
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