With the still new Audi R8 LMS, which first competed in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring last year, and two inexperienced drivers, it was an excellent result. Britons Meadows and Leonard, Blancpain GT Series drivers for Leonard Motorsport AMR, are not yet household names; however Vanthoor and Ferté are already well known in racing circles.

Laurens Vanthoor is a talented GT driver. Having started out in Formula 3, he won the German championship and came second at the Macao Grand Prix in 2010 before switching to GT. He has won the 24 Hours of Zolder (2012), the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (2014), the 24 Hours of Nürburgring (2015) and now the 24 Hours of Dubai. After the race, he said,“It was a really hard one, very difficult with 100 cars on track. Speed didn't count but staying out of trouble and being intelligent did! And of course luck. I am extremely happy to add this trophy to my collection.”

Laurens Vanthoor raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LM P2 with Oak Racing last year. Unfortunately, the car didn’t make the finish, but the Belgian driver hopes to be back. Maybe Audi will offer him a seat in an LM P1! He definitely has the requisite experience. At this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, Vanthoor is set to drive a Ligier JS P2 for Michael Shank Racing (provided the team is selected).

Fellow winner Alain Ferté was probably the most experienced driver on the grid at the 24 Hours of Dubai. Ferté began in single-seaters and has raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans no less than 14 times. The last time was in 2012 when he drove the Ferrari 458 Italia for JMB Racing. He has driven some legendary cars in the course of his career: Rondeau M482, Porsche 956, Jaguar XJR-9 et XJR-12, Sauber Mercedes C11 and Peugeot 905B Evo 1 Bis LM. The win in Dubai is yet another feather in his cap. Who said sixty was nearly retirement age?

Congratulations to all four drivers for a well-deserved win.

Geoffroy Barre — Translated from French by Emma Paulay

Photo: The Audi R8 LMS run by Belgian Audi Club Team WRT won the 24 Hours of Dubai, having led the race for 517 of the 588 laps.