VICTORY AT THE DUBAI 24HRS!

There is rarely a better way to start the racing year, than by standing on the top step of the podium after winning one of the most prestigious 24-hour races of the season – the Michelin 24H Dubai. That is exactly what Ben Tuck achieved as part of a crew of five aboard the AlManar Racing by Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo. The result at the now traditional mid-January endurance season opener came at the perfect time as Tuck puts the finishing touches to his racing programme for 2025. Alongside Silver rated Al Faisal Al Zubair, Bronze rated Darren Leung, and two BMW factory drivers, Dan Harper and Max Hesse, Tuck completed the 24-hour race a lap ahead of the competition in a fascinating battle which saw the lead swapped between the top two protagonists until the final stages of the race,

The quintet represented perhaps one of the strongest line ups on the GT3 grid, but despite claiming the flag by a clear lap, the victory was no easy win. In an epic and ever changing race full of incident, previous Dubai 24H winners, Team WRT had to deliver a top-class strategic performance on the pit wall and in the garage, whilst the drivers battled it out on track against arguably one of the most formidable grids there has been for this race, claiming the chequered flag for all five drivers to become first time winners of the event.

The race also marked the debut win for BMW’s next evolution of the M4 GT3 and brought the German marque level with rivals Mercedes as the brand with the second most wins of the 24H of Dubai. Whilst visually similar, the new design was something for Tuck to get used to, having only ever driven the previous version, claiming a podium with it in 2022 at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

After several days of practice and testing, a strong qualifying performance was delivered across three separate 15-minute sessions driven by Leung, Harper and Hesse. Despite the first of these sessions suffering a lengthy interruption due to a horrific looking accident on the back straight, the combined time was good enough for fourth on the grid out of 62 starters.

The race got off to a good start with Hesse behind the wheel of the #777 AlManar Racing by Team WRT BMW. The early part of the race developed into a close and ever-changing battle at the front, with the #777 in the thick of the leading battles. At four hours in, Tuck’s crew reached the front for the first time as Hesse, Harper and Al Faisal handled most of the driving duties during the day.

But as night began to fall, the battle for the race lead developed into a three-way fight between Tuck’s BMW, and the two Porsche’s run by Dinamic GT and Pure Rxcing. Tuck having been held fresh for the night-time, first got behind the wheel during the early hours, over halfway into race.

Pure Rxcing dropped back with a puncture during the night and, with staggered pit stop strategies, Tuck and the crew of the #777 car traded the lead with the #24 Dinamic Porsche through the darkness as their pitstops interleaved. Numerous Code 60 interventions continually complicated the strategies as the teams reacted to the incident prone race.

The #777 crew began to pull an advantage in the Sunday morning dawn as their pace began to reel them towards the Porsche after each stop. Ben Tuck looked after his final stint with around four hours to go, putting in a stellar performance to hand the car back to Hesse in first place with a healthy advantage. From there, Hesse stretched their lead over the chasing Porsches to claim a superb win clocking up 589 laps, with the #777 car having led 255 of them, in what was the fourth win for Team WRT in this event.

Tuck was elated with the result “First time I’ve driven a BMW for a few years now, so it’s a great first race back with the marque and it’s a major international victory with the new M4 GT3 EVO. Super great for AlManar Racing by Team WRT and BMW! Perfect strategy calls from the team, hour after hour, and some unreal stints from my team-mates, a true team effort win! I’m ecstatic to start my 2025 season off with this win and I want to thank Al Faisal and the team for the opportunity.”

Vincent Vosse, CEO of WRT, added: “What a way to start the 2025 season and our partnership with Al-Manar Racing. It’s a huge achievement to claim the win on the debut of the BMW M4 GT3 EVO. It was a race of determination and executing the perfect strategy. The crew made zero mistakes and performed flawless pitstops and we know that makes all the difference in these races, so a monumental congratulations to them. I take my hat off to the drivers. It is the first time they have all raced together and in a new car, so I am very proud that we have been able to give them their first overall win at the Dubai 24H and marking our fourth victory here. This makes me very excited for the year ahead!”

Ben’s next races see him back with Kessel Racing for the remainder of the Asian Le Mans Series in Dubai (8-9 February) and Abu Dhabi (15-16 February) on back-to-back weekends to round out the championship.