4 Hours of Dubai Race 2: CrowdStrike Racing made it a double win in LMP2, with fierce battle for the LMP3 class win
- Ghazlan Atqiya Firmansyah
- 1 hour ago
- 9 min read
The No.4 CrowdStrike Racing completed a dream 4 Hours of Dubai after winning both races in the weekend. The No.71 23Events Racing had a hard-fought battle for the LMP3 class win, with the No.69 Team WRT winning the race in the GT class.
First hour: The start of 4 Hours of Dubai Race 2 and class battles
Race 2 of the 4 Hours of Dubai got underway at 14:10 local time under clear desert skies. The No. United Autosports Oreca led the field from pole with Giorgio Roda at the wheel. In the sub-classes, Paul Lanchère maintained the top spot for the No.17 CLX Motorsport in LMP3, while the No.37 QMMF by GetSpeed headed the GT field.
It was a clean start for the LMP2 field as Roda successfully converted his pole position, holding an early lead over the No.20 Algarve Pro Racing (APR) and No.49 High Class Racing entries. However, the green-flag action was short-lived; the race was neutralised by an early Safety Car after Darren Leung’s No.21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 collided with the barriers.
For a brief period, it appeared the Ferrari might be out of the running; however, Leung was able to get the car moving and rejoin the field. Race Control subsequently announced that the Safety Car would return to the pits at 14:14 local time to resume green-flag racing.
As the race went green once more, Roda appeared to be struggling and was passed by Jens Reno Møller in the No.49 car and John Falb in the No.20 car.
Drama struck the GT class when Ajith Kumar, in the No.1 Team Virage LMP3, locked up and made contact with the leading No.37 QMMF by GetSpeed. The collision sent the Mercedes into instant retirement, while Kumar was forced to pit for repairs to his damaged Ligier.
The race took a dramatic turn for the leaders as Roda pitted to retire from the contest, prompting a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) at 14:20 local time. While the exact cause remained unconfirmed in the immediate aftermath, United Autosports later determined that a power-related issue had ended the No.5 car's afternoon.
The caution triggered a flurry of activity as several teams opted for a tactical refuel, further scrambling the order. The VSC was escalated to a full Safety Car at 14:28, effectively closing the pit entry.
In a surprising turn, Roda rejoined the circuit after United Autosports seemingly resolved the power issue. However, his return was brief. Despite rejoining three laps down, the 31-year-old was forced back into the garage almost immediately, though he remained strapped into his Oreca 07 as the crew continued to work.
As the clock hit 14:34, the order began to settle behind the Safety Car. Bo Yuan held the GT class lead in the No. 87 Origine Motorsport Porsche, while Lebanese driver Shahan Sarkissian fronted the LMP3 field in the No.85 R-ace GP. In the overall standings, High Class Racing's Møller continued to lead ahead of Falb as the field awaited the restart.
Yesterday’s LMP3 victors, the No.13 Inter Europol Competition car, finally joined the race after a suspected suspension failure prevented the car from taking its place on the starting grid. The Polish squad began their afternoon a daunting eight laps down.
Racing resumed at 14:41 with Møller leading the field to the green flag. It was a disciplined restart for the LMP2 frontrunners, though several drivers could be seen taking wide lines to generate vital temperature in their front tyres. The lead change came shortly after, as Falb executed a successful move on the Danish veteran to seize the overall lead.
Contact occurred between the class leaders when the No.85 tagged the No.87 Porsche. Incredibly, both retained their respective leads despite the LMP3 entry being forced wide through the corner.
Meanwhile, Race Control issued the first sanctions of the afternoon, handing drive-through penalties to both the No.23 23Events and the No.77 Proton Competition for speeding in the pit lane.
The No.13 Inter Europol squad’s recovery drive faced a further setback when Race Control issued a one-minuteadded time penalty for its next stop due to its pit-lane start.
Tension rose elsewhere on the circuit as the No.51 AF Corse made contact with the No.77 car. The Ferrari was left stranded momentarily in the middle of the track before the driver was able to restart and rejoin the race.
Debris on the track triggered another VSC at 14:53 to allow the marshals to clear it. Falb led the restart as we got underway at 14:58. George Kurtz in the No.4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR passed the No.3 DKR Engineering for eighth.
Chaos erupted again as Kumar spun for a second time, with Leung as the unfortunate victim of the contact. The impact completely sheared off the latter's rear wing, leaving the Briton struggling with a terminal loss of downforce as he limped back to the pits.
The GT field saw further drama as Bankcy in the No.77, lost the rear and collided with the barriers. Despite sustaining significant front-end damage, the Japanese driver was able to rejoin the circuit.
Meanwhile, a fierce battle emerged for the final podium spot in GT, with the No.34 and No.11 Corvettes locked in a duel for third. In LMP3, the No.17 CLX Motorsport took advantage of earlier chaos to inherit the class lead from the No.85 entry
Second hour: Continued class battles and prolonged safety car
Falb continues to lead the race as its overall leader, followed by the No.17 CLX Motorsport and the No.87 Origine Motorsport in LMP3 and GT, respectively. Many cars dashed into the pit lane for their driver change and other services.
Race Control officially took note of the incidents involving the No.1 car, issuing a black-and-white warning flag to Kumar for a breach of driving standards. The move served as a final notice for the 54-year-old following several on-track incidents throughout the afternoon.
By 15:23, Algarve Pro Racing had asserted total dominance over the LMP2 field, with a 1–2–3 formation. The No.20 led the way, followed by the No.25 sister car and the charging No. 4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR, which now had the formidable Malthe Jakobsen at the wheel.
The No.1 car was eventually pulled into the garage for extensive repairs, effectively ending its competitive run. Reflecting on a difficult stint, Kumar summed up his afternoon as a "bad day at the office." He added that the car felt different after the first contact and became more difficult to drive.
Despite the setbacks, he remained positive about the experience, expressing confidence that his Ligier JS P325 would rejoin the circuit before the chequered flag. The No.13 Inter Europol Competition would eventually pass the stationary No.1 car for ninth in LMP3.
Discipline became a factor as the race entered the second half of the second hour. Race Control issued a 10-second time penalty to the No.99 entry, to be served at its next pit stop, for failing to adhere to the Race Director's instructions. Meanwhile, the No.77's repeated track limit infringements finally resulted in a drive-through penalty.
At 15:40, the Safety Car was deployed after a high-speed collision involving the No.23 23Events Racing car. The pass around was completed 12 minutes later, and the Safety Car returned to the pits at 15:57.
Three APR cars were vying for the lead as the race resumed. No.25's Enzo Trulli passed No.20's Matthias Kaiser before the Liechtensteiner was overtaken by Jakobsen not long after. Jakobsen eventually overtook Trulli for the overall lead.
The battle for the overall third place was spicy with Kaiser defending hard from Charles Milesi in the No.47 Cetilar Racing and No.30 RD Limited's James Allen. Allen passed Kaiser and overtook Milesi, as the Frenchman needed to take the run-off area.
The No.87 Origine car led the No.69 Team WRT BMW and the No.11 TF Sport in the GT class. The Race Control dished out several penalties for various infringements. Léna Bühler in the No.85 car passed Kévin Rabin's No.17 car for second in LMP3.
Jakobsen pitted for his scheduled pit stop, allowing Trulli to move into the lead once more, with Allen still hot on his tail.
Third hour
As the race entered its second half, Enzo Trulli was the overall race leader, Léna Bühler led the LMP3 class in her No.85 car, and Anthony McIntosh led the GT class in his No.69 Team WRT BMW.
No.17's Kévin Rabin defended second place from No.71 High Class Racing's Ibrahim Badawy. Kaiser and Allen pitted at the same time, as No.6 United's Ben Hanley inherited the lead, ahead of No.3's Griffin Peebles.
There was a mix-up between the Corvettes as the No.99 JMR car blocked the path of the pit-bound No.34 Racing Team Turkey's Salih Yoluç. The Turkish driver had front wing damage as a result and had to cross the white line on the pit entry, which may result in a penalty later.
Rabin returned to the lead of LMP3 from Badawy and No.29 Forestier Racing by VPS' Lucas Fecury. Bühler struggled with her tyres and was forced to drive her car back to the pits carefully as she dropped down the order. Allen continues to set strong lap times and holds the fastest lap.
Bühler managed to evade the LMP2 class battle for the lead. Jakobsen emerged as the overall leader once. The replay showed that contact between Rabin and Bühler resulted in her puncture. Milesi received a warning for abusing track limits.
At 16:39, the No.8 Team Virage car went straight off the course and quickly dropped from the LMP3 battle for first place.
There were plenty of battles for positions in all classes as the race entered the final hour.
Fourth hour: Three-way battle for the LMP3 class win
At the beginning of the final hour, the No.30 RD Limited held a 13-second advantage ahead of the No.47 Cetilar Racing. Several drivers received a warning and were investigated a few minutes later.
At 17:24, advised the drivers to stay alert for a slippery surface. The warning only lasted for two minutes. The No.30 car received five seconds added to its next stop for pit stop infringement.
Sami Meguetounif led the race in the No.20 APR, almost a minute ahead of Tristan Vautier in the No.30 and six seconds more of Louis Delétraz in the No.4 car. Daniel Harper, in the No.69 WRT, led the GT class ahead of No.87's Laurin Heinrich.
Alexander Jacoby in the No.17 car had his eyes set on the No.29 car for the lead of LMP3. Meguetounif eventually came to the pit lane and hoped for a quick stop to salvage a podium finish.
Meguetounif briefly stalled after his fuel stop and emerged from the pit lane to rejoin the track in second behind the No.30 car.
There was a three-way battle between Matúš Ryba in the No.71 23Events Racing, defended fiercely from the charging No.29's Luciano Morano and No.17's Jacoby.
Delétraz eyed Meguetounif in second place, with Tom Dillmann also lurking in fourth, ready to seize an opportunity to put his No.25 car in podium places.
Delétraz used his endurance racing experience to pass Meguetounif at Turn 10, correctly judging when a GT car would appear. With 18 minutes left on the clock, the Swiss driver charged to reduce the gap to the leading Vautier, if he were to stop.
Darkness came with 17 minutes left on the clock, but Jacoby could not seem to pass Morano. A massive shock happened when the LMP3-leading No.71 suddenly slowed down. Morano and Jacoby safely passed Ryba and continued their battle, now for the class win.
On lap 106, Delétraz passed Vautier easily for the overall lead, all while the LMP3 class win battle remained as tense as ever. Dillmann also overtook Vautier for second.
Jacoby briefly passed Morano for the lead, but the move was illegal as it was done off-track. The American driver handed the lead back to the Frenchman at Turn 1, but he is not giving up just yet with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Dillmann sat less than a second behind Delétraz as he waited for a window to seize the lead from his Swiss rival. With less than four minutes left, Antonio Fuoco in the No.47 Cetilar Racing joined the battle for third. Vautier now had to defend from both Meguetounif and Fuoco.
Fuoco passed Meguetounif from the inside to take third. Vautier eventually pitted to ensure he could finish the race safely, despite dropping out of podium contention.
Less than a minute left on the clock, the No.71 car found pace and overtook Jacoby by surprise, turning it into a three-way battle for the LMP3 class win. Ryba passed Morano for the lead by going wide and having a better exit.
After 114 laps completed, the No.4 completed the 4 Hours of Dubai sweep by winning the second race. The No.69 Team WRT took the GT win. All eyes were still on the LMP3 battle, however.
The No.71 23Events Racing crossed the line to take home the LMP3 class win ahead of the No.29 Forestier Racing by VPS and the No.17 CLX Motorsport.
LMP2 - Top 5
1st No.4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR - Kurtz, Jakobsen, Delétraz
2nd No.25 APR - Jensen, Trulli, Dillmann
3rd No.47 Cetilar Racing - Fuoco, Milesi, Lacorte
4th No.20 APR - Falb, Kaiser, Meguetounif
5th No.30 RD Limited - Sweetnam, Allen, Vautier
LMP3 - Top 5
1st No.71 23Events Racing - Ryba, Woodward, Badawy
2nd No.29 Forestier Racing by VPS - Adcock, Ferury, Morano
3rd No.17 CLX Motorsport - Jacoby, Rabin, Lanchère
4th No.85 R-ace GP - Frost, Sarkissian, Bühler
5th No.94 High Class Racing - Whale, Lindberg, Voisin
GT - Top 5
1st No.69 Team WRT BMW - Harper, McIntosh, Thompson
2nd No.87 Origine Motorsport Porsche - Yuan, Ye, Heinrich
3rd No.10 Manthey Racing - Au, Hartog, Bachler
4th No.74 Kessel Racing - Blattner, Lulham, Marschall
5th No.92 Manthey Racing - Lietz, Pera, Heriau
