BMW and Team WRT retain their title at the Dubai 24 Hours

The first 24-hour race of the year has once again gone to BMW and Team WRT. The Belgian team, managed by Vincent Vosse, won the 2026 Dubai 24 Hours, held on January 17th and 18th, for the fifth time. The company with the propeller logo... Porsche with a sixth victory in this event.

BMW close to a hat trick

The yellow and black BMW M4 GT3 EVO #669, co-driven by Anthony McIntosh, Ben Tuck, Jordan Pepper, Kelvin van der Linde, and Fran Rueda, crossed the finish line in first place on Sunday. The German manufacturer even secured a one-two finish, with the #27 Team WRT entry, driven by Stanislav Minsky, Mathieu Detry, Thomas Kiefer, Julian Hanses, and Christopher Haase, taking second place. Classic Mercedes for sale completed the podium with Maro Engel, Sergey Stolyarov, Daan Arrow and Luca Stolz in the #16 Winward Racing car.

The end of the race was marked by a Code 60 period during the final scheduled pit stops, casting doubt on the leaders' fuel range until the checkered flag. Thanks to optimal fuel management, the #669 BMW avoided an additional pit stop. Jordan Pepper was thus able to cross the finish line in first place, a lap ahead. In another BMW, James Kellett looked poised to secure third place overall and the Am class victory for Paradine, before late technical problems forced the #992 to retire in the pits.

Denied an all-Munich podium, the German manufacturer had to settle for the top two spots. The #991 BMW Paradine of Kellett, Augusto Farfus, Jamie Day, Darren Leung, and Pedro Ebrahim finished fourth, ahead of the #10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R, winner of the Pro-Am category.

Bavarian dominance was also facilitated by spectacular incidents: within thirty minutes, the #81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG (Rinat Salikhov, Gabriele Piana, Marvin Dienst, Matteo Cairoli) and then the #2 Audi R8 LMS GT3 of HAAS RT (Alexander Bukhantsov, Damian Ciosek, Alim Geshev, George King, Jamie Winslow) lost their right rear wheel at the same point on the circuit. While the Mercedes retired, the Audi was able to continue and finish 18th.

BMW also shone in other categories. In GT4, the Cerny Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 of Ivan Krapivtsev, Joshua Bednarski, Florian Sternkopf and Shiv Sapra won with a massive 64-lap lead, taking advantage of the numerous difficulties encountered by its competitors.

The wrecked Rossa LM GT

In GTX, the battle between the Rossa LM GT of Roman Rusinov, Evgeny Kireev, Amna Al Qubaisi, Ismail Akhmedkhodjaev and Viacheslav Gutak and the Ginetta G56 GT2 of Team CMR (Michael Simpson, Jack Mitchell, Nicolas CheersAndrew Bentley's run was cut short after a huge crash involving the Rossa, then driven by Rusinov, four hours from the finish. Despite exhaust problems, the Ginetta still managed to finish second, behind the Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 driven by Gerhard Watzinger, Don Yount, Fred Roberts, Månz Thalin, and Brendon Leitch.

Rossa LM GT has crashed again! #939 GP Elite Cup 992 involved that crash #24hSeries #24Hdubai pic.twitter.com/5utox0gLiH

— 바람 (@onlyzone012) January 18, 2026

Finally, the 992 category went to the No. 962 Porsche of the Tierra Outdoor Racing by FACH team (Ralph Poppelaars, Huub van Eijndhoven, Robert de Haan, Wouter Boerekamps), which won with a two-lap lead after a very close first half of the race.

24 Hours of Dubai 2026
Race classification