Team Abu Dhabi win Gulf 12 Hours race

Khaled Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Bernd Schneider drive home team to victory

The Porsche 997 GT3 entered by the MRS Molitor team navigates Yas Marina Circuit on Friday during the Gulf 12 Hours race on Friday. Christopher Pike / The National

Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon sent the local fans home happy on Friday, taking first place in the Gulf 12 Hours race at Yas Marina Circuit.

The team of Khaled Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Bernd Schneider combined to navigate 308 laps of the track in the fastest time and see off defending champions AF Corse, who held a commanding 53.9 second advantage at the midway point of the race but could not turn that edge into a victory.

AF Corse – driven by Marco Cioci, Steve Wyatt and Michele Rugolo – were the quicker out of the pits during a yellow-flag period early in the race, forcing Team Abu Dhabi to chase for the remainder of the session. The gap in seconds was wiped out at the start of the second half of the race, though, with only the gap in laps maintained.

Team Abu Dhabi entered Friday having earned its first pole position in the Gulf 12 Hours, which was held for the third successive year. The team beat out the Kessel Racing trio of Michael Broniszewski, Daniel Zampieri and Cesar Ramos, who started the day in second spot and finished in third.