The Hankook 24H Dubai concluded with victory for the Herberth Motorsport team. After 578 laps of racing, Robert Renauer crossed the finish line first in the Porsche 991 GT3 R to claim a prestigious success for himself and his crew at the opening event of the 2017 endurance season at the Dubai Autodrome. Two laps back, Matteo Cairoli – also in a Porsche 991 GT3 R – finished second for Manthey Racing, completing a one-two for the car maker from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Third place went to the Black Falcon team with their closing driver Abdulaziz Al Faisal at the wheel of a Mercedes AMG GT3. The spectators were treated to 24 eventful hours of racing with a host of thrilling action at the twelfth staging of the desert classic. The race tyres supplied by exclusive partner and title sponsor Hankook performed perfectly, provided all the drivers with a consistently high level of grip throughout the entire race, which took place on an extremely sandy track surface.

 

Dubai/UAE, January 30th 2017 – 92 cars started the Hankook 24H Dubai at 14:00 local time on Friday (13/1). Starting from third, the Herberth Motorsport initially lost a little ground, but was then battled its way back into the top three. Nine hours before the finish, drivers Daniel Allemann (Switzerland), Brendon Hartley (New Zealand), Ralf Bohn, and Robert and Alfred Renauer (Germany) moved into the lead in their Porsche 991 GT3 R, after which point they never looked back.

Matteo Cairoli (Italy), Sven Müller, Otto Klohs and Jochen Krumbach (Germany) ofManthey Racing were embroiled in a great battle for the lead with their fellow Porsche team, but ultimately had to settle for second place. The Black Falcon team also featured among the front-runners throughout the entire race. After a consistent performance, Abdulaziz Al Faisal(SaudiArabia), Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands), Michael Broniszewski (Poland), Maro Engel and Hubert Haupt (Germany) claimed third place in their Mercedes AMG GT3.

As part of the fringe programme for the endurance classic, the Hankook 3x3H Dubai started as a series of support races for the new 24H Proto Series powered by Hankook. The 17 cars registered completed three races, each lasting three hours. French team Graff was successful twice, with Optimum Motorsport from Great Britain winning the third race.

You can find all the results at http://www.24hseries.com/2017/24h-dubai-2017/results .

 

Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport Director Europe:“The Hankook 24H Dubai once again produced motorsport from the very top drawer. The standard was incredibly high. There were a lot of tough battles and many Code 60 phases, because the large field meant it was very tight out there. The Hankook race tyre worked perfectly on the very sandy asphalt, and we received nothing but positive comments from all the teams. The Hankook 3x3H, which we held together with Creventic for the first time here, and which formed the opening leg of the 24H Proto Series, was a huge success. We saw spectacular races with super-fast cars, supported perfectly by the Hankook race tyre.”

Brendon Hartley (Porsche 991 GT3 R), Herberth Motorsport: “It was a phenomenal weekend, but never in my career have I experienced as much traffic on the track as there was here at the Dubai Autodrome. The team was totally professional and the tactics were perfect. I hope to be back next year. The Hankook race tyres did a good job.”

Sven Müller (Porsche 991 GT3 R), Manthey Racing: “We claimed a great result for Porsche with this one-two. Unfortunately, we had a collision, which perhaps cost us the win. However, our colleagues at Herberth Motorsport were very strong and did not make any mistakes. This podium is a great success on my first outing as a Porsche works driver. It was very pleasant to drive on the Hankook tyre. You could push hard all stint without the tyres degrading.”

Yelmer Buurman (Mercedes AMG GT3), Black Falcon: “It was a great race at a great circuit. We were a little unfortunate with the Code 60 phases, but that is part and parcel of motorsport. We peaked superbly on the Hankook race tyre in qualifying, and were then able to drive consistently quick laps and double stints in the race itself. They are really good tyres.”

 

###

 

About Hankook Tire Co., Ltd.:

Hankook Tire (Vice Chairman & CEO: Seung-Hwa Suh) is one of the world’s top five companies in the mass production of tires. The company is dedicated to leading the industry in innovation with its proven technological excellence. It offers award-winning products through five R&D centers and seven production facilities around the world. It is also committed to actively investing in the expansion of its core capabilities, allowing the company to deliver consumers the utmost in driving satisfaction. Hankook Tire produces superior quality, high performance radial tires for passenger cars, 4x4s, SUVs, light trucks, campers, trucks, buses and motorsport vehicles. It currently employs approximately 22,000 people around the world, and its products are available in over 180 countries.

For more information, visit Hankook Tire’s global website at www.hankooktire.com/global or Hankook Tire Indonesia website at www.hankooktire.com/id