Kessel Racing wins the 12 Hours of Abu Dhabi

On the entry list for this 2018 edition of the 12 Hours of Abu Dhabi, the trio Michael Bronizewski – Davide Rigon – Alessandro Pier Guidi looked like a scarecrow. The double title holder in GT, associated with the two official drivers Ferrari, was lined up at the wheel of the Ferrari 488 GT3 n°11 – Kessel Racing, already winner in 2017.

A mix which will have proven itself again in 2018, with a victory obtained against the No. 8 Audi R3 LMS GT88 – Car Collection Motorsport of Christopher Haase – Markus Winkelhock – Dimitri Parhofer, who had dominated the first six hours of the race , and the No. 8 Audi R3 LMS GT44 – Attempto Racing of Clemens Schmid – Sean Walkinshaw – Giorgio Roda

The Audi clan had the chance to win but Haase was the victim of contact with one of the two Norma M30s – Graff Racing, when Klaus Bachler (Audi R8 LMS GT3 n°99 – Attempto Racing) was the victim of a puncture leaving the Ferrari crew to take the lead, despite a puncture for Davide Rigon.

The top 5 is completed by the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 n°97 – Oman Racing by TF Sport of Adam – Al Harthy – Turner and the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 n°27 – Team Lazarus of Ramos – of Marco – Onidi, which pockets the Pro-Am class.

Despite a suspension problem which prevented him from fighting for the final victory, the all-new McLaren 720S GT3, entrusted for its competition debut to the trio Ben Barnicoat – Shane van Gisbergen – Alvaro Parente, entered the top 10 in eighth place. The technical problem encountered in the last two hours did not spoil a very good performance for the British GT3.

The No. 30 Norma M4 – Graff Racing from Winslow – Muston – Parsons won in Proto and finished 9th overall. Mario Cordoni – Steven Liquorish – Dimitris Deverikos (Lamborghini Super Trofeo – GDL Racing) wins the Cup category, while Fons Scheltema – Rick Lovat – Murat Cuhadaroglu – Niki Cadeiet (Ferrari 488 GT3 – Kessel Racing) dominates the Gentlemen class where the Mercedes-AMG GT3 – AKKA-ASP de Beaubelique – Ricci – Ricci – Bourret, finished 3rd.

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