Belgian team AC Motorsport claimed its maiden 24H DUBAI TCE division win in a race that was shortened to 7h17m due to torrential rain.
After the decision not to continue the race for safety reasons, the team’s Audi RS 3 LMS (#188, Stéphane Perrin / Vincent Radermecker / Tom Boonen / Gilles Magnus / Matthew Taskinen) was classified as the winner.
Having been on TCE pole already twice in Dubai, the team finally celebrates its maiden division win in the 24H DUBAI. For Audi, it was the second touring car success in Dubai after the brand’s maiden TCR win in 2017. The result also means the first major international motor racing success for Tom Boonen, a multiple cycling champion.
“Conditions out there were simply unbelievable. I was driving really slowly, but there was even aquaplaning on the straights,” Canadian Matthew Taskinen, who was behind the wheel of the class-winning Audi when the red flag came out, commented.
Next to the win in the TCE division, the AC Motorsport team also came out on top in the TCR class, followed by two Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs, the Lestrup Racing Team car (#111, Hannes Morin / Martin Öhlin / OIiver Söderström / Marcus Fluch) and the Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing entry (#112, Alberto Vescovi / Roberto Ferri / Miklas Born / Constantin Kletzer / Yannick Mettler), both two laps behind.
With TCR cars locking out the overall top ten of the TCE division, TCX class honours went to the Team ACP – Tangerine Associate BMW M240i Racing Cup car (#321, Catesby Jones / Ken Goldberg / Damon Danieli / Dr Jim Norman).
The TCE pole-winning CWS Engineering Ginetta G55 (#278, Colin White / Bradley Scorer / Jean-François Brunot / Fraser Robertson / Adam Hatfield) finished second in class, followed by the Nordschleife Racing Ligier JS2 R (#226, Guillaume Roman / Thierry Blaise / François Riaux / Michel Sallenbach). The only finisher in its class, the Team Avia Sorg Rennsport BMW M240i Racing Cup (#351, Skip Woody / Johan Schwartz / Benito Tagle / Mark Brummond) won the TC class.
The next race in the 24H SERIES powered by will see teams and drivers heading to the world-famous Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy for the inaugural 12H MONZA (27-28 March), the season opener of the 24H SERIES Europe.