Motopark Wins Gulf 12H After Drama-Filled Second Segment

Photo: Gulf 12 Hours

CapitalRT by Motopark came out victorious in the 15th running of the Gulf 12 Hours after a drama-filled final four-hour segment in which several contending cars ran into trouble.

The No. 13 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Denis Remenyako, Adam Christodoulou and Mikhail Aleshin took victory with a margin of a minute and 32.190 seconds over the No. 77 Al Manar by Dragon Ferrari 296 GT3.

The Motopark and Al Manar cars, together with the No. 81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, were the only three entries to start the deciding four-hour part of the race on the lead lap.

However, both the No. 69 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and No. 4 Grove Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG regained the lead lap in the opening 20 minutes as Ben Barnicoat and Jules Gounon went on the offensive early on.

Despite that, Chris Froggatt retained the overall lead of the race for Al Manar, only for the Omani-flagged squad to suffer a first setback when it was caught speeding in the pits and received a drivethrough penalty.

This promoted Marvin Dienst’s No. 81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG to the lead, only for that car’s victory bid to be derailed when a loose bolt in the suspension forced the car into the garage for several minutes.

That promoted the No. 77 Al Manar Ferrari back out front, but another twist soon followed as brake issues for Ben Tuck prolonged the car’s next stop.

This time, Christodoulou inherited the lead in the No. 13 CapitalRT Mercedes-AMG, although he soon came under significant pressure from a charging Ben Barnicoat in the No. 69 Optimum McLaren.

Barnicoat captured the race lead with a pass in Turn 6, but Optimum then fell back again when Bronze-rated Todd Coleman needed to take back over to completed his minimum drive time.

Out front, Christodoulou retained a comfortable margin to take the No. 13 Mercedes-AMG to victory, delivering the fourth event win for the Stuttgart manufacturer and the first since 2023, when it was last held as a round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Tuck, Froggatt and Al Faisal Al Zubair finished second in Al Manar’s first race of the team’s new partnership with Ferrari.

The overall podium was completed by the No. 4 Grove Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG of Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove and Jules Gounon.

Gounon rapidly caught and passed the No. 69 McLaren of Coleman for the final podium position after the puncture for the Optimum machine dropped it into the clutches of the Mercedes-AMG factory driver.

An additional ten-second penalty for track limits was later still given to the No. 69 car, but did not prevent Coleman, Barnicoat and Aaron Telitz from taking fourth place.

The No. 81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Dienst, Gabriele Piana and Rinat Salikhov completed the overall top five, a lap clear of Pro-Am winners Tigani Motorsport.

The Australian squad, in its first international appearance, came out on top in class and finished sixth overall with the No. 44 Mercedes-AMG of Marcel Zalloua, Sergio Pires, Brendon Leitch and Jayden Ojeda.

That was despite a late splitter issue that cost the team significant lap time in the final hour, although it was able to keep a big enough margin over the No. 17 Enrico Fulgenzi Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in seventh overall.

Steven Palette, Simon Balcaen and Peter Guelinckx picked up eighth overall aboard the no. 21 HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, ahead of the No. 28 TFT Racing Mercedes-AMG driven by Jordan Boisson, Patrick Charlaix, Benjamin Paque and Nico Bastian.

The overall top ten was completed by the No. 8 Garage 59 McLaren piloted by Marco Pulcini, Alexander West, Mark Sansom and Williams F1 boss James Vowles.

Source: Sports Car 365