Kessel Racing: Fifth victory in Abu Dhabi 🎥
RECOVERY DAY The fastest of Kessel Racing's four Ferraris won the 12 Hours of Abu Dhabi, the final endurance race on the 2018 racing calendar, as in previous years. The 12 Hours of Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina GP Circuit is a kind of sweep for one team and a preparation for 2019 for the other. While Kessel [...]
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The 12 Hours of Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina GP Circuit is a kind of finale for one team, and a preparation for 2019 for the others. While Kessel Racing relied on its proven Ferrari 488 GT3, three new GT3 sports cars - the Aston Martin Vantage V8, Audi R8 LMS and McLaren 720S - were on the grid in the hands of different teams.
The decision in the half-marathon, which was held in two halves, was only made in the final two hours. After the first six hours, the Car Collection Motorsport Audi driven by the two pros Markus Winkelhock and Christopher Haase together with Pro-Am driver Dimitri Parhofer was in front. The 720S entered for the first time by McLaren Customer Racing followed just 26 seconds behind, with the Kessel Ferrari driven by Michael Broniszewski, Davide Rigon and Alessandro Pier Guidi another 38 seconds behind.
Exciting final phase
The McLaren led from the second lap after the second start until suspension damage set it back. The lead then changed several times between two Audi teams and the Kessel Ferrari. All had to make extra stops for various reasons, primarily due to punctures and minor collisions.
In the exciting final phase, Winkelhock tried to close the gap to Rigon. However, the Italian played out his experience and brought the red Kessel Ferrari home as the winner.
For him and Kessel Racing it is already the fifth consecutive triumph in the biggest endurance race in the Gulf state, for the Pole Broniszewski the fourth and for Pier Guidi the first.
Team boss Ronnie Kessel was also pleased with his women's team. Rahel Frey, Manuela Gostner and Michelle Gatting brought their blue Ferrari home second in the Pro-Am classification and sixth overall. Victory went to a men's trio on Lamborghini with less than a lap to spare.
The all-Swiss quartet of Mauro Calamia, Stefano Monaco, Roberto Pampanini and Nicolas Stürzinger brought their Ligier JS P3 round in second place in the LMP3 class and 14th overall.
Debut of the new Aston Martin from St. Gallen
After a promising start, the new Aston Martin from R-Motorsport with the trio of Kirchhöfer/Dennis/Collard fell behind the leaders by 18 laps after a 35-minute repair stop (clutch).
The team from Niederwil SG used the time afterwards to test the new Vantage V8 GT3 under racing conditions and gather data for 2019. The result - 18th place overall and P6 in class - was therefore secondary.
