Gulf Racing kicked off their 2015 season with an encouraging performance at the tenth annual Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai.
The GT3-spec Lamborghini Gallardo of Roald Goethe, Frédéric Fatien, Stuart Hall and Jamie Campbell-Walter ran consistently to record a 4th place finish in the A6-Am sub class, as well as 8th place overall.
Experienced sportscar racer Hall exhibited the Lamborghini’s pace in qualifying, recording the 5th fastest time in class.
The frantic first few hours of the race saw Gulf Racing in the thick of an A6-Am class battle that was affected by heavy traffic. The experienced four-man crew remained undeterred, and were soon in position to launch an attack on the class leading cars that included the Dragon Racing Ferrari 458 GT3 and the Nissan GT Academy RJN entry.
During the night the team’s untroubled run had elevated them to 3rd in A6-Am, with an overall top five placing in sight. However, as the various strategies played out in the early hours of daylight the Lamborghini slipped down into fourth behind the #99 Attempto Racing Porsche 997 GT3, a position it maintained until the finish.
“It is great to start the season with such a competitive performance in a 24 hour race, particularly one which now attracts many of the worlds leading GT drivers and teams.” Team Principal Matt Beers said.
“This is just the start of 2015 and we have demonstrated again that we can run at the front and fight for those podium spots. Dubai is a challenging race for many reasons and is certainly great preparation for our programme of racing in Europe this year.”
Gulf Racing competed in the European Le Mans Series last year with a GTE Aston Martin V8 Vantage. The team has recently been mooted as a potential GTE Pro entry for the 2015 World Endurance Championship, alongside their soon to be announced GT3 schedule.
