Dunlop Dubai 24 Hours – Hour 2 Report
No Let Up

Peter Kox leads the way by 11 seconds as the second hour begins in Dubai. Rob Barff’s stop has dropped the #12 AUH 458 to 22nd, but this would soon improve rapidly as the rest of the A6 runners made their first stops.

Fahan AlGosaibi was second, Bernd Schneider third and Matt Griffin back up to fourth.

15:08 – Kox pits, while Schneider takes the lead as the Saudi BMW follows the Reiter car down the pitlane. Griffin also takes the AF Corse Ferrari into the pitlane. The refuelling station is suddenly filling up with front-runners.

15:12 – Schneider pits and is the first leader to change drivers. Jeroen Bleekemolen is the new, albeit temporary, leader in the #3 Black Falcon Mercedes, while Christian Frankenhout is 1.3s further back in second in the #6 Heico SLS.

Kox (13th) and Griffin (14th) have rejoined the race ahead of Rob Barff (16th).

15:19 Lap 37 – As Frankenhout pits, we have a Porsche in second overall; the #20 Stadler Motorsport GT3 R of Rolf Ineichen, which trails the leader by 70s. Bleekemolen pits a lap later, as does Ineichen. Otto Klohs now leads in the #18 Fach Porsche. The #40 997 Class leader is now into the top ten, but yet to stop. The Lotus leads SP3 still, but Joe Osborne has pitted the Optimum Ginetta from second.

15:25 The #32 JRM Nissan’s trouble continues as it pits with flames visible below the bodywork.

15:27 The #105 GC10 V-8 drops to fourth in SP2 after pitting for a second time, indicating a problem. This promotes the GT3 Viper to third, a dozen seconds behind the #103 Las Moras Megane. The class is led by the #27 VDS Racing Adventures Mustang by 15s, but has yet to stop.

A2 is led by the #80 Besaplast Mini, by a lap from the #81 S.I.G. 1 Mini. The #50 Kuepper Racing BMW leads A5, but has just pitted.

15:34 While Klohs leads, Kox heads Matt Griffin for third by seven seconds. Rob Barff is very close behind the AF Ferrari and this fight is the effective top three. Stefan Rosina pits from second. 

15:38 Klohs pits from the lead, leaving Peter Kox to once more head the field. The two Ferraris are lapping quicker than the Lambo, but Barff is catching Griffin. This will be very close, very soon.

The SP3 leading Marcos Racing Lotus Evora is one of very few cars still to stop and is now 14th overall. Meanwhile, The GT3 Racing Viper is back in the lead of SP2.

15:44 Cor Euser pits the Lotus after an excellent stint of 104 minutes. This augers well for a very good result for this car.

15:48 Lap 48 – Rob Barff passes Matt Griffin for second round the back of the circuit, as the Irish driver loses out in traffic. Kox’s lead is down to four seconds.

With just over ten minutes to go before the end of the second hour, five cars have yet to stop, including the A2-leading #81 Mini.

15:49 Peter Kox suddenly drops to third, with a 2:19 indicating a spin somewhere. With 50 laps completed, Barff leads Griffin by just under two seconds.

15:53 The GT3 Viper makes its second stop.  Matt Griffin also stops from second and hands over to Jack Gerber. The driver change goes well and the South African drives the Ferrari to the refuelling station. Barff and Kox will both have to stop before the two-hours is up (as this is the maximum driver time).

In what could be a regular feature of this race, the hour ended with the FF Corse Ferrari in the pits, as Rob Barff handed over to Jordan Grogor.