24h Dubai with strong Swiss presence
MOTORSPORT The 13th edition of the Dubai 24 Hours from January 11 to 13 features a strong Swiss participation. At 17, Ricardo Feller on an Audi R8 GT3 is the youngest. Starting with number 1 are the Endurance champions Hofor Racing on Mercedes-AMG. 93 teams are on the provisional start list for the traditional opening race to [...]
93 teams are on the provisional start list for the traditional opening race to the 2018 24H Series of the Dutch agency Creventic. More than 30 of the nearly 400 drivers from 42 nations come from Switzerland.
The list is headed by start number 1, which, as in the previous year, belongs to the Hofor Racing team, which was victorious in all championship rankings in 2017. Chantal Kroll, her father Michael Kroll and Roland Eggimann will again alternate this season with the two professionals Kenneth Heyer (D) and Christiaan Frankenhout (NL) at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 managed by Widberg Motorsport.
In their most competitive GT3 class, A6-Am, they have direct Swiss competition from another Mercedes with Iradj Alexander David, Richard Feller, Alexandre Coigny and Antonin Borga. Also featuring an all-Swiss line-up is one of the two Porsche 991s from Fach Auto Tech with Philipp Frommenwiler, Marcel Wagner, Heinz Bruder, Peter Hegglin and Michael Hirschmann.
Both Lamborghini Huracan of GRT Grasser Racing, currently the best team with this brand, are driven by Swiss drivers. Brothers Rolf and Mark Ineichen take turns with factory drivers Engelhart and Bortolotti in one car, Mark Ineichen with Christoph Lenz and newcomer Mauro Calamia (2014 Maserati World and European Trophy winner) with Italo-Swiss Pampanini and Dutchman Breukers in the other.
Among the top favorites for overall victory is Daniel Allemann, who won the intercontinental endurance classification of the 24H Series including Dubai with Herberth Motorsport in 2017. The Solothurn native last won with the German team at the 24 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas last November.
Ricardo Feller, who is only 17 years old, will get his first big international opportunity. In 2017, the young Lucerne native amazed as the best youngster from the Audi Sport racing academy with great lap times in the ADAC GT Masters, although this was not reflected in the results.
For Dubai, the renowned Berlin-based team BWT Mücke Motorsport has taken him on as one of the five drivers on an Audi R8 LMS. One of his partners is last year's International GT Champion and Nürburgring/Spa double winner Markus Winkelhock!
Philip Ellis from Zug, who competes under a British license, makes his GT debut in a new Audi R8 GT4. In 2017, he won the Audi Sport TT Cup. The Stanco & Tanner Motosport team from Winterthur is competing in the 14-car TCR class with a newly acquired Audi R3 LMS and a Seat Leon. With Stefan Tanner, Luigi Stanco and Ralf Henggeler in the Audi and Ruedi Rhyn and Adrian Spescha in the Seat, there are three Swiss drivers at work here.
Also driving an Audi from a Dutch team is Ronny Jost from Topcar Motorsport. Florian Thoma, the only Swiss race winner in the TCR Germany in 2017, will take to the endurance track for the first time in a Golf GTI from Engstler Motorsport. Mathias Beche drives for a Chinese Seat team, as in 2016.
In the Cup 1 class, Martin Kroll and the duo Fabian Danz and Yannick Mettler are three Swiss drivers competing in two BMW M235i Racing Cup cars.
The start of the 24 Hours of Dubai will be on Friday, January 12, at 2 pm. The entire race will be broadcast as a livestream on the organizer's homepage.
