MUSCAT: An accident midway through the last quarter of the Michelin Dubai 24H race at the Dubai Autodrome prevented Al Manar by Dragon Racing from pushing on for a podium finish on Sunday.
Oman’s Al Faisal al Zubair, Zimbabwean Axcil Jeffries, American Dustin Blattner and German driver Dennis Marschall had led early in the race, fought back through the field on a couple of occasions and were holding fourth overall in their Ferrari 296 GT3 when Al Zubair was involved in an accident three and a half hours from the chequered flag after 504 laps.
The Omani was taken for protocol medical checks and later released but the incident put an end to the team’s defence of the race crown they had earned in 2025. Team WRT BMW M4s filled the top two positions at the finish after 604 laps with the Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo rounding off the podium places.
Al Zubair said: “It was a great race weekend and my first time racing there with the Ferrari. Our line-up was extremely strong and we had a great time until the crash and were in the top five, I believe, on alternate pit stops. The race started strong. We started near the back of the grid and got into the top 15 in the first hour.
“We had a really strong pace. Unfortunately, around 21 hours into the race, with about three and a half hours to go, I got into an accident. I hit the wall and got a minor fracture in the spine. Just a bit bruised up. This is part of motor sport. It happens. I am looking forward to recovery and feeling better soon.”
Marschall took the wheel for the first stint, where the early lead went to Team WRT’s Kelvin van der Linde. After the opening 30 minutes of the session, Marschall was down in 16th position but had climbed to 13th at the end of the first hour and then up to 12th.
As the first refuelling stop and driver change took place, the Al Manar Racing by Dragon Ferrari moved into the top six with Blattner taking over from Marschall under a course Code 60. The Ferrari actually led the field when speed restrictions were lifted after a tactical masterclass of a pit stop. Herberth Motorsport’s Max Moritz held second in a Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Blattner pitted for fuel during the next Code 60 and retained the lead after the restart. He held that advantage until pitting after 2hr 40min when he slipped back to 23rd. The move back through the field began again and the American was up to 16th when Jeffries took over at the wheel.
After four hours, Al Zubair was back in the hot seat with the Ferrari in 17th and the Omani began to press on and climb back into contention through the first hours of darkness. After five and a half hours of the race, he held sixth with the Haas RT Audi leading the way in the hands of Alim Geshev. Before pitting for fuel just before the six-hour mark, Al Zubair was up to third before moving back to 14th.
With just over 14hrs to run and Marschall back at the wheel, the Al Manar Ferrari held 10th position with the Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo out in front of the two Team WRT BMWs.
Jeffries and Al Zubair made progress during the early part of the night stint and the Ferrari was into the top four at the halfway mark. Jeffries had the Ferrari in fourth place with nine hours to run and the team remained in contention throughout daybreak and into the first hours of daylight.
NO INJURY
Unfortunately, an accident for Al Zubair within three and a half hours of the finish halted progress and the Omani was taken for medical checks and released without injury. The team was classified in 47th position in the results.
The Tsunami RT Porsche 911 GT3 R had topped the times in the free practice session on Friday morning with a best lap of 1min 57.655sec after a 43-lap stint on the race circuit. The Al Manar by Dragon Racing Ferrari ran for 48 laps and a best run of 1 min 58.777 sec put the crew down in 15th of the 34 GT3 teams.
The Sainteloc Racing Junior Team was quickest in the first of the three qualifying stints with a lap of 1 min 57.606 sec. The Al Manar Ferrari was classified in eighth. A mush stronger second stint saw the Ferrari up to third behind the Winward Racing Mercedes and the TFT Racing Mercedes.
Dragon Racing’s other Ferrari ran quickest in Q3 with a lap of 1 min 56.468 sec and the Al Manar car was seventh.
With the three sessions combined, pole and second position on the grid went to the two Winward Racing Mercedes with the Sainteloc Racing Junior Team Audi R8 qualifying in third ahead of the Al Manar Racing by Dragon quartet in their Ferrari 296 GT3.
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