Dubai, 15th and 16th of January 2010 – The D8 GT had already proved its potential in the past two seasons in the FIA GT4 European Cup (vice-champion 2009). The 24H of Dubai was the first opportunity for Donkervoort Racing to compete in this GT4-class in a 24-hour race with the Donkervoort D8GT. And not without result either, for this very first 24-hour race of the D8GT was finished with a 5th position in the class and a 23rd overall position!

At the end of the nineties, Donkervoort already competed in the 24H of the Nürburgring, Germany with the D8 Cosworth and the D8 180R. However, changes in regulations resulted in exclusion from future participation. The FIA GT4 class, which was introduced in 2008, and the birth of the D8GT gave Donkervoort new possibilities regulation-wise to take part in sprint- and 24-hour races on an international level once again.

The debut of the D8GT in a 24-hour race became the 24H of Dubai 2010. Donkervoort asked the experienced 24-hour specialist Peter Kox to support her 3 GT4 drivers Nico Pronk, Stéphane Wintenberger and Denis Donkervoort (all three without any 24-hour experience) in the heavy and challenging adventure. The results are satisfying; Donkervoort Racing finished with a fifth position in the GT4 class and a 23rd position in a field of 80 competitors in the 24H of Dubai.

Training sessions and qualification
Donkervoort’s lap times during the training sessions were already in the top five of the GT4-class. Because the qualifying session is of less importance in a 24-hour race in comparison to a sprint race, this was ended before the end of the session when a fastest lap time of the class was reached. There would be 3 Astons Martins improving this lap time during the continuation of the session, which resulted in a fourth position in the GT4 field for the D8GT.

24H of Dubai
Moments before the start of the race an electronic malfunction, which was solved after a reset, resulted in a start from the pit lane for Donkervoort. Peter Kox re-entered the pit lane after almost 2 hours of driving for the first drivers change – lying on a first position in the GT4-field and a 19th overall position. Later on in the race a leaking drive shaft cover and ruptured wheel stud bolts resulted in the loss of this first place and a fall-back to a seventh position. After the above-mentioned technical difficulties in the first six hours of the race, the D8GT experienced no further problems. In fact: the bonnet has not been opened for the entire 24 hours of the race! Furthermore, the lap times even further improved during the course of the race. It was obvious the car was getting faster hour after hour and the fastest lap times were therefore achieved at the final part of the race.

The tension remained until the very last minutes of the 24-hour race. One set of brake pads turned out to be enough for the entire 24 hours. The new carbon fiber chassis/body resulted in such a perfect balance of the car that only one set of tires in three stints (of almost 2 hours per stint) was needed. Driver changes could be executed extremely fast because of this. Thanks to the short pit stops and the faster and faster lap times, Donkervoort Racing managed to climb up to and finish with a top five position and a 23rd position in the overall classification.

All in all, Donkervoort is very satisfied with this fifth GT4 position and looks back with a lot of joy on this beautiful and well-organized 24-hour event in Dubai.