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Dunlop Dubai 24 Hours – Hour 18
Report The #3 Abu Dhabi Black Falcon Mercedes’ 12th stop of the race sees Sean Edwards back onboard, but now two seconds behind Claudia Hürtgen’s #1 Saudi Falcons BMW Z4. The fight for the lead between these two would be the story of the 18th hour, with Edwards regaining the lead before the clock reached the half-hour. 07:35 Hürtgen dives down the inside of Edwards and so very nearly finds the room to get through. The Merc runs almost off the track but somehow stays in the lead.
Things settle down momentarily but the German remains very close. 07:42 The BMW exits the final hairpin right on the tail of the Mercedes and is poised to try the move again. At that very moment, however, the circuit goes Code 60 and both cars immediately head for the pitlane. Hürtgen has a look round the outside while in the pitlane, but holds station. We’re not sure what has caused the latest caution. However, the RLM team has spotted debris and skid-marks on the pit straight, but no stationary cars are evident. Nick Damon finds a damaged #119 Aston Martin in the pitlane, but driver Keiko Ihara reports that she was forced to skid when the car ahead applied the brakes when the Code 60 was declared. In other words, this was caused by, rather than the cause of, the caution period. Edwards stayed aboard, but Hürtgen handed the BMW over to Abdulaziz Al Faisal during the caution and the Saudi driver is now third behind Max Nilsson. |
