There was victory for the Middle East at the 10th Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai endurance race as Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia was crowned champion on Saturday at the Dubai Autodrome.
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Al Faisal helped steer his Black Falcon team to the overall race win in what was a truly euphoric moment for the member of the Saudi royal family – who had previously come so close in nine previous attempts but was yet to taste victory in Dubai.
The number two Black Falcon Mercedes of Al Faisal, Germany’s Hubert Haupt, Dutchman Yelmer Buurman and England’s Oliver Webb were dominant throughout the weekend.
Al Faisal said: “It’s my ninth year here, I’ve finished second, third and fourth, and this year it’s first and it’s a really special feeling. It’s as close to being a home race for me as possible and it’s definitely a checkpoint for me.
“I’ve come close so many times and this still hasn’t sunk in, but you won’t be able to wipe this smile off my face for a while.
“We were very clever in being able to stay ahead and away from trouble. Of course, luck plays a big role as well but I think we earned it.”
In victory, Al Faisal and his team-mates consigned their sister team Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon, twice winners of this event, to the shadows.
The Abu Dhabi team, led by Emirati driver Khaled Al Qubaisi, had been forced to withdraw from the race just four hours in.
Sitting in second place on lap 88, a slower car collided with Al Qubaisi.
Dubai boys Memac Ogilvy take home first place in the A3T category at Dubai 24H pic.twitter.com/dO6rj6nV6B
— Matt Jones (@MattJones360) January 10, 2015
The pit crew did all they could to repair the Mercedes AMG SLS GT3 in order to get it back on the track, but the damage to the rear suspension and the chassis was deemed too severe and they were forced to retire.
Al Qubaisi, who had been part of the Black Falcon team who had won here in both 2012 and 2013, said: “I had an accident while overtaking. A car hit me on the right rear a couple of laps before our scheduled pit-stop.
“Up until that point our times and performance was really great, the car showed winning potential.”
