One-Two for Porsche at the Hankook 24H Dubai

The Hankook 24H Dubai concluded at 14:00 on Saturday with victory for the Herberth Motorsport team. After 578 laps of racing, Robert Renauer crossed the finish line first in the Porsche 991 GT3 R to claim a prestigious success for himself and his crew at the opening event of the 2017 endurance season at the Dubai Autodrome. Two laps back, Matteo Cairoli – also in a Porsche 991 GT3 R – finished second for Manthey Racing, completing a one-two for the car maker from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Third place went to the Black Falcon team with their closing driver Abdulaziz Al Faisal at the wheel of a Mercedes AMG GT3. The spectators were treated to 24 eventful hours of racing with a host of thrilling action at the twelfth staging of the desert classic. The race tyres supplied by exclusive partner and title sponsor Hankook performed perfectly, provided all the drivers with a consistently high level of grip throughout the entire race, which took place on an extremely sandy track surface.

Dubai/UAE, 14th January 2017 – 92 cars started the Hankook 24H Dubai at 14:00 local time on Friday. Starting from third, the Herberth Motorsport initially lost a little ground, but was then battled its way back into the top three. Nine hours before the finish, drivers Daniel Allemann (Switzerland), Brendon Hartley (New Zealand), Ralf Bohn, and Robert and Alfred Renauer (Germany) moved into the lead in their Porsche 991 GT3 R, after which point they never looked back.

Matteo Cairoli (Italy), Sven Müller, Otto Klohs and Jochen Krumbach (Germany) of Manthey Racing were embroiled in a great battle for the lead with their fellow Porsche team, but ultimately had to settle for second place. The Black Falcon team also featured among the front-runners throughout the entire race. After a consistent performance, Abdulaziz Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia), Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands), Michael Broniszewski (Poland), Maro Engel and Hubert Haupt (Germany) claimed third place in their Mercedes AMG GT3.

As part of the fringe programme for the endurance classic, the Hankook 3x3H Dubai started on Tuesday as a series of support races for the new 24H Proto Series powered by Hankook. The 17 cars registered completed three races, each lasting three hours. French team Graff was successful twice, with Optimum Motorsport from Great Britain winning the third race.

You can find all the results at www.24hseries.com/2017/24h-dubai-2017/results.

Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport Director Europe: “The Hankook 24H Dubai once again produced motorsport from the very top drawer. The standard was incredibly high. There were a lot of tough battles and many Code 60 phases, because the large field meant it was very tight out there. The Hankook race tyre worked perfectly on the very sandy asphalt, and we received nothing but positive comments from all the teams. The Hankook 3x3H, which we held together with Creventic for the first time here, and which formed the opening leg of the 24H Proto Series, was a huge success. We saw spectacular races with super-fast cars, supported perfectly by the Hankook race tyre.”

Brendon Hartley (Porsche 991 GT3 R), Herberth Motorsport: “It was a phenomenal weekend, but never in my career have I experienced as much traffic on the track as there was here at the Dubai Autodrome. The team was totally professional and the tactics were perfect. I hope to be back next year. The Hankook race tyres did a good job.”

Sven Müller (Porsche 991 GT3 R), Manthey Racing: “We claimed a great result for Porsche with this one-two. Unfortunately, we had a collision, which perhaps cost us the win. However, our colleagues at Herberth Motorsport were very strong and did not make any mistakes. This podium is a great success on my first outing as a Porsche works driver. It was very pleasant to drive on the Hankook tyre. You could push hard all stint without the tyres degrading.”

Yelmer Buurman (Mercedes AMG GT3), Black Falcon: “It was a great race at a great circuit. We were a little unfortunate with the Code 60 phases, but that is part and parcel of motorsport. We peaked superbly on the Hankook race tyre in qualifying, and were then able to drive consistently quick laps and double stints in the race itself. They are really good tyres.”

About Hankook Tire

Hankook Tire manufactures globally innovative, award-winning radial tyres of proven superior quality for passenger cars, light trucks, SUVs, RVs, trucks, and buses as well as motorsports (circuit racing/street circuits/rallies).

Aspiring to bring consumers the utmost excellence in product quality, technological excellence and driving satisfaction, Hankook Tire continuously invests in research and development maintaining five R&D centres and eight production facilities around the world. Bespoke tyre solutions for the European markets as well as European Original Equipment according to the requirements of leading premium car manufacturers, are developed in the company’s regional Technical Centre in Hanover/Germany. Production for the European region is taking place in the state-of-the-art manufacturing site in Rácalmás/Hungary which was inaugurated in June 2007 and is continuously being expanded.

Hankook Tire’s European headquarters are located in Neu-Isenburg near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The manufacturer operates further branches in several European countries and sells its products through regional distributors in other local markets. Hankook Tire employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide and sells products in over 160 countries. The company has been the technical partner and exclusive tyre supplier of the Generation 3 for the FIA ABB Formula E World Championship since 2023. Internationally leading car manufacturers rely on tyres made by Hankook for their original equipment. Approximately 38 percent of the company's global sales are generated within the European region.

For more information please visit www.hankooktire-mediacenter.com or www.hankooktire.com

Hankook Tire Europe GmbH | Marketing Communications Europe | Siemensstr. 14, 63263 Neu-Isenburg | Germany

all press releases