A successful first edition, with three cars fighting for the overall win until the very end, is already paying dividends for the Gulf 12 Hours as United Autosports have confirmed their entry in the second running of the event.
Following its sensational podium position in yesterday’s inaugural race, the team has confirmed its commitment for the next Gulf 12 Hours that in a move from this year’s January slot will be staged later this year, in December.
The Anglo-American team was one of the first to confirm its entry in the 2012 maiden event, already back in October, and remained committed to being on the grid with one of its Audi R8 LMS cars, in which it last night was in the lead battle up to a finish line sprint.
At Yas Marina Circuit United Autosports joined world-class, international teams such as AF Corse (Italian), Kessel Racing (Swiss), Autorlando (Italian) and Aylezo Motorsports (Malasian) on the starting line in the capital of theUnited Arab Emirates.
Team owners Richard Dean and Zak Brown have been so impressed with the track, organization and competition that they have, without hesitation, agreed to enter the team’s two McLaren MP4-12CGT3s for the next fixture.
Richard Dean (GB), Managing Director & Co-Owner of United Autosports:
“It’s a difficult job getting an event up and running from nothing so I applaud everyone involved. It’s been professionally run – the venue is out of this world, and to have high-class competition such as AF Corse and Kessel Racing has been great”.
“We love doing one-off events like this and others such asMacau, Daytona 24 and – only last week – the Dunlop Dubai 24 Hours. This event’s got the potential to be right up there with the best of them, especially with this fantastic circuit as host. We will have had the12CGT3 for a full season by December and I’m sure I’ll have no problems in filling the driving seats”.
Andrea Ficarelli (IT), Director Driving Force Limited, Organizers of the Gulf 12 Hours
“For us, this first race is to ‘break a wall’; to move it from being a project to an established event. So now everyone can see that this event is something real and it has all of the qualities to become a major event in endurance racing. Even if the number of teams for the first race has not been very high, the quality has been very, very high and it is the first sign of the potential of this event”.
“We are aware that there is very strong interest from teams to come here and this confirmation that United Autosports will run two McLarens in December is exactly what we were hoping for and we obviously welcome it. We have had top teams fromItaly, fromSwitzerlandand the Anglo-American team United Autosports, which all contribute to making the event even more international”.
