BBR takes first Hankook 24H DUBAI TCE win; Thailand tops TCR podium 15.01.2022: BBR has secured its first TCE win in the 24H SERIES as well as the first division win for a team hailing from Thailand at this weekend’s Hankook 24H DUBAI. In contention from the very early going, the BBR CUPRA TCR (#159, Kantadhee Kusiri / Kanta

BBR has secured its first TCE win in the 24H SERIES as well as the first division win for a team hailing from Thailand at this weekend’s Hankook 24H DUBAI.
 


In contention from the very early going, the BBR CUPRA TCR (#159, Kantadhee Kusiri / Kantasak Kusiri / Anusorn Asiralertsir / Tanart Sathienthirakul / Pasarit Promsombat) ran consistently in the TCE top five during the opening stages before slotting into 2nd place heading into the night stages.




A suspension mount issue for long-time leader AC Motorsport though eventually allowed BBR to hit the top spot at half-distance. The Thai team was never led thereafter, and Kantadhee Kusiri drove the BBR CUPRA across the line to complete 541 laps of the 5.39km Dubai Autodrome. The result marks the first outright TCE division win for both BBR and a TCR team from Thailand in the 24H SERIES.


 
Despite its delays, the AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS (#188, Stephane Perrin / Mathieu Detry / Miklas Born / Yannick Mettler) recovered to finish 2nd overall, its second TCE podium in three years at the Hankook 24H DUBAI.
 


Further back, the Les Deux Arbres Ligier JS2 R (#202, Steve Zacchia / Patrick Zacchia / Jack Leconte / Antoine Lepesqueux / Christophe Bouchut), which had started from TCE pole position, concluded a fighting drive on its 24H SERIES debut with the final spot on the division’s podium and TCX class victory. The BMW M2 CS Racings of COGEMO/TLRT (#255, Antoine Lacoste / Sebastien Morales / Philippe Thirion / André Grammatico) and Yeeti Racing (#208, Domenico Solombrino / Phil Hill / Thomas Krebs / Hanna Zellers) finished 4th and 5th on the road in TCE to secure the final two spots on the TCX category podium, and were separated by just 39 seconds at the chequered flag.
 


TCE front row starter and early leader LAMERA GT (#222, Wilfried Merafina / Pierre Couasnon / Grégory Fargier / Franck Dezoteux) endured driveshaft failure and eventually slipped back to 7th in-class. Ironically, the French team finished just ahead of LAMERA GT LUX (#223, Tommy Rollinger / Sébastien Guignard / Mattéo Mérafina / Thomas Merafina), the latter having battled multiple suspected gearbox issues during the course of the event.
 


In TCR, the new Audi RS 3 LMS of reigning Overall TCE Teams’ champion Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing (#116, Marcus Menden / Marlon Menden / Peter Posavac / Rob Huff / Alex Morgan) looked set to compete for TCE victory before a gearbox change dropped the Swiss entry to the tail of the division. Ironically, this allowed the sister Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR DSG (#112, Henry Littig / Antti Rammo / Vytenis Gulbinas / Gustavo Xavier / Alex Morgan) to take the final spot on the TCR class, despite early fuel pressure problems.
 


Endurance racing action continues in just one week’s time with the non-championship, Hankook 6H ABU DHABI at the Yas Marina Circuit on 21-22 January. On 25-26 March, the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook travels to the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello in Italy for its first European round of the year, the Hankook 12H MUGELLO. Further information can be found at 24hseries.com.




Creventic BV also photo