After winning the inaugural race by just 2.6″, AF Corse had things a little easier this time as former Minardi F1 driver ‘Gimmi’ Bruni, Finn Toni Vilander, and Venezuelan Gaetano Ardagna took their Ferrari 458 to a 25″ victory over the AF Waltrip 458 driven by Ryan Dalziel, Pierre Kaffer and Alex Popow after 309 laps of the challenging, varied Hermann Tilke-designed circuit.

Smart strategy when the team took two of its four mandatory two minute second half pit stops under a Safety Car, set up the win.

“It was a good call from the team and I’d like to thank Toni and Gaetano as well,” Bruni said. “We didn’t put the car off the track all race and we were all quick and consistent.”

Vilander added: “We learned from our opponents (Kessel) who used strategy to strong effect in the first half of the race. It was a great event at a fabulous venue.”

The final podium place went to the Autorlando Porsche of the Dutch Bleekemolen brothers, Jeroen and Sabastiaan, sharing with Venezuelan Emilio Di Guida. Jeroen Bleekemolen in particular drove some heroic stints as the team tried to make up for a 60s stop/go penalty for exceeding the maximum 75 minutes stint length at the very start of the race.
The team seemed set for a strong recovery in the last 90 minutes of the race but the younger Bleekemolen actually felt ill for the final portion, cutting short his chase of the AF Waltrip car.

Fourth place also fell to the Italian-American AF Waltrip team, in the shape of Muarizio Mediani, Michele Rugolo and Steve Wyatt.

Fifth overall and winner of the SC sportscar Class, just four laps down, was the Avelon Formula car of Ivan Bellarosa, 16-year-old Alessandro Latif and local driver Juma Ali Al Dhaeri. The Wolf GB08 was particularly rapid in Bellarosa’s hands, chasing down and passing the sixth place Kessel Racing Ferrari of Philipp Peter, Daniel Zampieri and Michael Broniszewski in the final stint of the race.

Kessel, narrowly beaten in the inaugural event, were unlucky once more. Good strategy under a first half Safety Car established the Swiss Ferrari 458 in front, but a delay when the front bodywork worked loose in the second half of the race, cost the team dear.

GTX class honours seemed firmly in the hands of the Ebimotors Porsche but a major gearbox issue threw them out contention. The Nova Race Ginetta G50 driven by Roberto Rainieri, Luca Magnoni, Luis Scarpaccio and Matteo Cressoni inherited the lead and got honors after a strong and consistent performance that allowed them to finish ahead of the Yas Marina Racing Aston Martin and the Barwell Motorsport V8 Vantage.

Shortly after the eight-hour point the AF Corse car held a 20 second lead over the AF Waltrip entry, with Jeroen Bleekemolen flying in the Autorlando Porsche as he once again unlapped the 997 and set off in hot pursuit of the race-leading Ferrari 458s.

The second AF Corse Ferrari hit trouble 33 minutes into the ninth hour when a left front wheel bearing failure brought the car in for a lengthy stop from which it resumed in seventh position, eight laps down.

That promoted the Autorlando Porsche into a podium position as the younger Bleekemolen continued his pursuit. The team needed a slice of luck, however, and it came in the form of a Safety Car when the MRS Molitor McLaren MP4-12C spun and crashed at the final corner.

That closed up the gap at the front of the field but quick-thinking saw the AF Corse Ferraris make both of their remaining two statutory two-minute pit stops under the Safety Car.

As the race heads into its final two hours, therefore, all three cars on the lead lap will have to make two more stops before the chequered flag. The AF Waltrip Ferrari with Ryan Dalziel at the wheel leads, locked in combat with the Orlando Porsche, just 2s behind driven by Sabastiaan Bleekemolen. The AF Corse lead car with ‘Gimmi’ Bruni driving is 40s down but closing, and will have shorter stops at both remaining pit visits…

The #45 Avelon entry is lone leader in the SC class and 6th Overall, while the Nova Race Ginetta G50 now leads the GTX class after the Ebimotors Porsche was hampered by a broken gearbox.

Mid-race leaders Kessel Racing had a disastrous start to the second half of the race. After the No. 4 car was forced to make an unscheduled stop, the main thrust of the team’s challenge, the No. 3 458 driven by Philipp Peter also came into the pits requiring attention to loose front bodywork, dropping it four laps behind the race lead on resumption.

That left AF Corse’s No 1 Ferrari driven by Gianmaria Bruni in a clear lead, which the former Minardi F1 driver had extended to 26s over the Italian-American AF Waltrip entry driven by Ryan Dalziel as the race passed the eight-hour stage.

The second all-Italian AF Corse works car with Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel was a further 22s in arrears, with the Autorlando Porsche the only other car on the lead lap.

Having taken the second start fifth on the grid a lap down, Jeroen Bleekemolen did a heroic job to dispense with the four Ferrari 458s ahead of him, setting a new fastest race lap of 1:11.462 and unlapping the 997 in the process. He then handed over to his brother Sebastiaan, who had a tenuous 4s margin over the lead AF Corse machine in his bid to stay on the lead lap.

The Ebimotors Porsche continues to lead the GTX class with the Nova Race Ginetta still setting the pace among the GT4 machinery, followed by the Yas Marina Circuit Aston Martin (2 laps adrift) and by the Barwell Motorsport V8 Vantage.

There were further problems for the United Autosports Audi, back into the pits after 21 minutes, and the ASM McLaren, which peeled into the pitlane six laps later.

The format means that the mid-race break, during which teams can work on their cars, effectively acts as a Safety Car, wiping out the deficit between those cars on the same racing lap.
Four cars remain on the lead lap (155) after six hours of racing. Behind the Kessel Ferrari 458 of Austrian Philipp Peter, Italian Daniel Zampieri and Poland’s Michael Broniszewski, some 37″ adrift, is the lead AF Corse Ferrari of Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander and Gaetano Ardagna. AF Corse will be pushing hard for a second successive victory in Abu Dhabi, having beaten Kessel by just 2.6s after half a day’s racing in the inaugural race!

The other cars on the lead lap are also Ferrari 458s, led by the first AF Waltrip entry driven by Pierre Kaffer, Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel, which finished the first segment of the race just 6s down on the lead AF Corse car. It was ahead until the final moments of the stint, when Alex Popow was caught by surprise lapping the Black Falcon Mercedes SLS and made contact with the German entry, which in turn caused him to be lightly rear-ended by the closing Vilander, who was able to take advantage as Popow sorted out the moment.
The second AF Corse 458 is also still very much in the equation, driven by former Peugeot works Le Mans drivers Stephane Sarrazin and Nicolas Minassian, with Enzo Potolicchio.

Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen did all he could to make up for the lost time of a 60s stop/go penalty when the Autorlando Porsche narrowly exceeded the maximum 75-minute stint length at the start of the race, without which the 997 would still be on the lead lap.

The Avelon Formula Wolf GB08 piloted so spectacularly by Ivan Bellarosa, was forced to temper its pace in the final stint but heads the CN2 class on 153 laps, while the Ebimotors Porsche Cup 997 leads the GTX category on 144 laps, driven by Matteo Beretta, Nicola Benucci, Roberto Silva and Giacomo Scanzi.

Of the GT4 entries, the Nova Race Ginetta G50 of Roberto Rayneri, Luca Magnoni, Luis Scarpaccio and Tiziano Frazza has completed 138 laps, one more than the Yas Marina Circuit-supported Aston Martin Vantage.

The ASM Team McLaren MP4-12C has rejoined the race after a lengthy pit stop following a sudden loss of power, traced to a broken spark plug. United Autosports also hit trouble, its Audi R8 LMS hampered by major gearbox problems.

While the Kessel car was out of synch with the other major contenders, the race lead passed to the pole position AF Waltrip Ferrari 458 with Ryan Dalziel at the wheel. The Scot was hunted down by Ivan Bellarosa in the light and quick Wolf GB08 CN2 car, the Italian finishing the stint right on the Ferrari’s rear bumper as they pitted together.
With Bellarosa handing over to local driver Juma Ali Al Dhaeri, the Avelon car passed the four-hour point in fourth place overall with the Kessel Ferrari having re-established itself at the front, ahead of both AF Waltrip Ferraris, the second car driven by Maurizio Mediani, Michele Rugolo and Steve Wyatt.

The ASM McLaren MP4-12C chased hard in second place early in the third hour but then hit trouble. With Karim Ojjeh, brother of McLaren Group shareholder Mansour, at the wheel, the car was forced to pit with a chronic loss of power and spent the last hour of the period in the pits.

As the clock ticked past four hours, the lead AF Corse Ferrari, after a difficult stint for Gaetano Ardagna, was poised to relegate the Avelon car to fifth place, with the sister No2 AF Corse 458 in close proximity.

The Ebimotors Porsche Cup car continues to lead the GTX class, with the Nova Race Ginetta the leading GT4 entry ahead of the local Yas Marina Racing squad. Barwell Motorsport’s new specification Aston Martin Vantage, delayed by a pit stop to check a loose wheelarch guard, is five laps down.

The pole position AF Waltrip car driven by Pierre Kaffer led the opening laps before former Minardi F1 driver Gianmaria Bruni worked his way to the front for AF Corse after starting on the second row of the grid.

Also impressive in the opening stint was 2008/9 Porsche Supercup champion Jeroen Beekemolen. The 31-year-old son of Michael, who raced for the RAM and ATS F1 teams in 1977-8, actually set the quickest qualifying time but with the grid decided by an average time from all team drivers, the Autorlando Porsche started sixth.
Bleekemolen got the car up into second place but the team undid its good work by marginally exceeding the maximum 75-minute stint length, earning itself a 60s stop/go penalty once Venezuelan Emilio Di Guida was at the wheel.

With Toni Vilander taking over from Bruni, AF Corse established a 20s lead over the ASM McLaren MP4-12C handled in the first stint by Rob Bell and taken over by Portuguese 2005 British F3 champion Alvaro Parente.

Just 10 minutes before the race reached the two-hour mark, the Safety Car was deployed after the second Avelon Formula Wolf got stuck on track, closing the field up as the #3 Kessel Racing Ferrari took advantage of the official car to make its second stop and make up ground.
As the clock passed two hours therefore, the order at the front was Vilander from Parente, with the second AF Corse 458 in third place, driven by Enzo Potolicchio after a strong opening stint from former works Peugeot Le Mans driver Stephane Sarrazin.

Fourth was the pole position AF Waltrip-entered Ferrari driven in the second stint by Alex Popow, from the Kessel Racing entry with Michael Broniszewski driving after an opening stint by Philipp Peter. The top six was completed by the CN2 class-leading Avelon Formula Wolf now piloted by 16-year-old Alessandro Latif after a strong opening stint from the rapid Ivan Bellarosa.

The Ebimotors Porsche Cup car started by Matteo Beretta leads the GTX class with the Yas Marina Circuit supported Aston Martin Vantage, handled by Abbas Al Alawi in the opening stint, first of the GT4 cars.

Enjoy his corner by corner guide for YMC!

We reached them just after the session, and here is what they said. Press “PLAY” and enjoy!

Unique to endurance events, Gulf 12 Hours qualifying times reflect an average set by all drivers in each car, meaning that the grid is likely to mirror race performance. That being the case, with less then one second covering the top seven crews in the GT3 class, another hugely competitive battle is in prospect.

Second position on the grid went to the inaugural Gulf 12 Hours runners-up Kessel Racing (2:11.963) in the form of Philipp Peter, Daniel Zampieri and Michael Broniszewski.
Defending first race victors AF Corse occupy the second row of the grid with their closely-matched Ferraris. Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander and Gaetano Ardagna (2:12.077) line up marginally quicker than the sister car (2:12.200) of Stephane Sarrazin, Nicolas Minassian and Enzo Potolicchio. Potolicchio’s performance is also worthy of note, his best time within a second of the best efforts from the French former Peugeot Le Mans works drivers.

AF Waltrip’s other entry starts fifth (2:12.381) as the Ferrari 458 took a clean sweep of the top five positions. The crew of Maurizio Mediani, Michele Rugolo andSteve Wyatt were just 0.07s clear of the Autorlando Porsche 997 GT3 R (2:12.454) driven by the Dutch Bleekemolen brothers partnered by Emilio Di Guida. Porsche Supercup Champion of 2008-9, Jeroen Bleekemoelen, actually took the honours for overall quickest lap of the day at 2:10.811.

That time was very nearly matched by Ivan Bellarosa (2:10.949), who had taken pole for the first Gulf 12 Hours last january in the nimble Wolf GB08. Bellarosa is joined by the youngest driver in the race, 16-year-old Alessandro Latif, and local driver Juma Ali Al Dhaeri, and starts 11th.

The two McLaren MP4-12Cs in the race line up eighth and 10th, although the ASM car was close to the quickest times with works drivers Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente at the wheel (2:11.237), as was the MRS Molitor car when piloted by the experienced Philipp Eng (2:11.029)
Heading the GTX class is the Ebimotors Porsche Cup car (2:19.762) of Matteo Beretta, Giacomo Scanzi, Roberto Silva and Nicola Benucci, while the Yas Marina Circuit Aston Martin driven by locals Saeed Al Mehairi, Abbas Al Alawi and Hasher Al Maktoum was quickest among GT4s.

The Gulf 12 Hours will be the racing debut of this new version of Gaydon’s successful endurance racer: Harry Whale, from Gaydon’s After Sales Support Dept., explains what’s new on the car.