Wednesday, January 11, 2012

24 hours of Dubai - Going for History

The Racing Divas will participate in this year's race.  Photo courtesy racingdivas.nl

Beautiful Dubai.  Photo courtesy creventic.com



The 24 hours of Dubai endurance race is set to take place in about 34 hours from now.  The race features a variety of classes of cars who will be vying for the win.  Racing for 24 hours is tough enough, but to combine darkness with speeds well in excess of 120 mph, and you can start to imagine how rough the conditions are on the drivers.

Photo courtesy creventic.com

Photo courtesy creventic.com


Strategy will play a key role in the race as the teams will have to decide when to change drivers, pit for fuel or change tires.  Being lucky will benefit teams who are able to avoid any major on track carnage or mechanical woes. 

This year is historic in that race driver, Claudia Hurtgen will be attempting to become the first woman to win a 24 hour endurance race two times.  She won last year, driving for the Need for Speed team.  Her team this year is the Saudi Falcons 1 by Schubert.  She is joined by fellow drivers Faisal Bin Laden, Edward Sandstrom, and Jorg Muller. 

Hurtgen will not be the only female racing on the track however.  Former F3 racing driver Keiko Ihara will be making an appearance for the Gulf Team First, and there is an all female team from the Netherlands called the Racing Divas.nl.  The team consists of 5 ladies:  Liesette Braams, Sheila Verschuur, Paulien Zwart, Sandra van der Sloot, and Gaby Uljee.  The ladies will be campaigning a Renault Clio RS Cup car in the A2 racing category. 

Renault Clio RS Photo courtesy racingdivas.nl
Photo courtesy racingdivas.nl


A familiar face to fans of the Japanese Best Motoring and Option Magazine DVD series will be driver Manabu Orido.  Orido has done drifting in the D1 drifting series and raced in the Super GT series as well a brief stint in NASCAR.
Manabu Orido.  Photo courtesy formulad.com
The excitement levels will be high for fans and drivers alike, and with the picturesque beauty of the Dubai skyline in the background it will definitely be a memorable experience for everyone.  If you wish to catch some of the action as it unfolds at the race, you can follow along at the official site of the race:  24 Hours of Dubai Race

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