Dunlop Dubai 24 Hours – Hour 15 Report
Heico Takes The Lead

With 14 largely caution-free hours having elapsed, the racing is as intense as ever. Radermecker takes eighth from Wlazik six minutes into the hour, while Kox continues to close in the Lambo.

Sean Edwards continues to lead, while Bernd Schneider is back in the #6 Heico Mercedes after a stint in the #16 sister car. He has probably accumulated more Joker laps than any driver in the race and adds to his tally with a 2:02.390 on his car’s 376th lap.

Poor old Matt Bell just can’t make any lasting headway as another trip to the garage (nine minutes) drops the #26 three laps behind the #36.

04:17 Carlo Lusser pits the #18 Fach Porsche from fourth place.

Radermecker’s deficit to the sixth-placed Marcel Matter is 46 seconds, but the #20 Porsche is lapping significantly slower than the Mercedes.

04:22 Kox has closed to within three seconds of Wlazik and is sure to take eighth very shortly.

04:23 Edwards pits the #3 Mercedes from the lead. The bonnet comes up on the car and there is a lot of attention on the front left corner. Are they changing the pads on the pit apron? Looks like it.

04:26 The #3 heads to the fuelling station after a stop of three minutes 20.

Schneider and Sandström both burn Jokers as they fight for second. Those drive-through penalties can’t be very far away now.

04:29 Kox pits – just fuel.

04:30Bleekemolen is back in the #3, but the Dutch driver finds himself behind Schneider and Sandström. 

The JLOC Lamborghini arrives at the weigh-station smoking heavily. The marshals spray extinguisher and the driver bails out. Not looking good for this car’s further participation.

04:35 Schneider leads Sandström by 12.5s, with Bleekemolen twice that distance further back in third.  Radermecker, meanwhile, is now ten seconds adrift of Matter.

04:42 Sixth and seventh places change, but Radermecker now faces having to overcome a six-lap deficit to the #16 Mercedes of Andreas Simonsen.

04:47 Bryan Heitkotter brings the #100 Nissan 370Z back into the race after a scheduled stop and moves up to third in SP2 as the #110 Corvette flounders in a stop that has already lasted 23 minutes.

Two minutes later the Corvette leaves its garage and resumes. The gap between the two cars is three minutes 40.

The top two continue to lap at very similar pace, meaning they stay within 15 seconds of each other. Bleekemolen is slightly off this pace and is now half a minute further back in third.

04:59 The SP3-leading Ginetta is held for a 40-second penalty as it makes its latest stop. The yellow car also undergoes a brakepad change.