WRT celebrates fourth victory in five years
The 21st edition of the Dubai 24 Hours was dominated by BMW and Team WRT. The Belgian team dominated the endurance race at the Dubai Autodrome and achieved a commanding one-two victory.
Overall success was secured by the BMW M4 GT3 Evo with starting number 669, with Anthony McIntosh, Ben Tuck, Jordan Pepper, Kelvin van der Linde and Fran Rueda taking turns at the wheel. It was Ben Tuck’s second win in a row in this race, having also been in the victorious WRT car in 2025. His four teammates, on the other hand, celebrated their first overall victory in the Dubai 24 Hours. For WRT, the success marked the fourth triumph since 2022.
The sister car with starting number 27, driven by Minski, Detry, Kiefer, Hanses and Christopher Haase, finished in second place. The foundation for the double success was laid during the night: The number 991 Paradine BMW, which had been in the lead until then, lost the top spot after simultaneous problems with the radio and traction control and dropped back.
As the race is held without safety car phases and only Code 60 zones are used, the order at the front remained largely stable after the lead change. From then on, the two WRT-BMWs dominated the action and only took turns at the front during the pit stops.
Strategy played a decisive role in the final phase. While Christopher Haase brought the number 27 into the pits again in a late Code 60 phase, Jordan Pepper in the leading car opted to save fuel. This made it possible to avoid an additional stop, which secured victory with a lead of two laps.
The race was dramatic for Paradine Competition. The car with the starting number 992 was on course for the podium for a long time and would also have won the amateur classification with aplomb. In the final hour of the race, however, a puncture caused considerable damage to the front end. The necessary repair stop around half an hour before the end of the race ended all hopes of a podium finish and class victory.
The number 16 Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Winward Racing benefited from this retirement and took third place overall. Despite additional delays in the refueling zone, this car also ultimately stood no chance against the BMW superiority.
Behind the #991 Paradine BMW, three Porsche 911 GT3 Rs (992) crossed the finish line, including two cars from Herberth Motorsport and a Pure Rxcing entry. The number 10 Herberth Porsche won the Pro-Am category.
Following Paradine’s retirement, victory in the GT3-Am class went to the #69 Simpson Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3, which finished the race in tenth place overall.