More than 50 entrants confirmed for 2021 Hankook 24H DUBAI
With just under six weeks to go before the 2021 Hankook 24H DUBAI, more than 50 entrants have booked their starts on the starting grid, with most having also started shipping their cars and equipment out to the United Arab Emirates. On 14-15-16 January, the Dubai Autodrome is set to host the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook season opener for the 16th year in succession. In response to the current global situation, the Government of Dubai has worked without pause to ensure the Emirate can re-open safely to international travellers. Hotels, restaurants and shopping malls, as well as the Dubai International Airport, have begun re-opening under strict new health and safety mandates. These include contactless check-in/out and bill payments, readily available temperature checks, and even more rigorous sanitation standards. The Dubai Autodrome meanwhile, which has also re-opened, now boasts more hand sanitizer and temperature check stations in accordance with new Emirates Motorsport Organization (EMSO) and Dubai Sports Council (DSC) guidelines
These measures have since allowed EMSO, the DSC and management at the Dubai Autodrome itself to confirm that the Hankook 24H DUBAI will go ahead as planned.
Health and safety protocols, put into effect by CREVENTIC at this year’s Hankook 24H PORTIMAO and summarily developed throughout the course of 2020, will once again be governed during the Hankook 24H DUBAI weekend. Face masks will be mandatory, and while social distancing will also be moderated in the paddock, teams are permitted up to 25 personnel, including up to 15 team members, up to five drivers and five VIP guests.
That teams from 18 different countries – some as far afield as the United States of America and Japan – have continued to register their entries is another shot in the arm for the Hankook 24H DUBAI.
Almost 20 entries have already been confirmed for the GT3 category alone on 14-15-16 January, eight of which are former GT winners of the Hankook 24H DUBAI. WRT and Car Collection Motorsport, which won the event outright in 2016 and 2019 respectively – the former under the ‘Belgian Audi Club Team WRT’ banner – have each entered two Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evos, while Herberth Motorsport, the event’s 2017 winner, will enter three Porsche 911 GT3 Rs.
Haupt Racing Team, an evolution of five-time Hankook 24H DUBAI winner Black Falcon under the tutelage of three-time winner Hubert Haupt, has also confirmed two Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos for the team’s maiden 24-hour event under its new nomenclature.
Almost 10 entries have already been confirmed in the 991 class. Reigning ‘Continental’ class champion DUWO Racing is sure to be among the front runners with its Porsche 911-II Cup, as is ‘European’ champion Speed Lover, which also begins its title defence in Dubai. MRS GT-Racing, a multi-time event class winner in Dubai, is also set to compete with two Porsche 911-II Cups cars in the UAE.
NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing, which made history as the first ‘991’ class team to take outright victory at a 24H SERIES event earlier this year in Hockenheim, will make its return to the class in Dubai. Germany’s PROFILDOORS by Huber Racing is set to make its series debut.
One week after the 16th annual Hankook 24H DUBAI, CREVENTIC is also set to host the non-championship Hankook 6H ABU DHABI. More than 20 teams have already signed up for the 24H SERIES’ second outing to Abu Dhabi, and CREVENTIC and management at the Yas Marina Circuit are communicating on a daily basis to make sure the event will go ahead safely. A relaxation of the mandatory quarantine period for all travellers heading into and out of Abu Dhabi is expected within the next seven weeks, though teams and track personnel may still be required to remain within a pre-determined area during their stay until a second Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test has been completed successfully.
Should circumstances become too complex, the Dubai Autodrome is being considered as an alternative venue for the six-hour non-championship event.