Photo of the weekend

First photo of the weekend comes from the Dubai Autodrome, where the first 24 hour race of 2016 was completed and we are seeing again the Belgian Audi Club WRT stepping at the top spot of the podium, now for the Dubai 24 Hours, the first round of the International Endurance Series, commonly known as the 24H Series.

The four men crew of the No. 19 Audi R8 LMS was composed by Michael Meadows and Stuart Leonard, switching from the Leonard AMR Vantage to Audi machinery, alongside Alain Ferte and Audi factory ace Laurens Vanthoor. For two guys out of these four, more specifically Leonard and Vanthoor, it's only a bit more than a month without lifting a trophy, as they won the Sepang 12 Hours alongside Stéphane Ortelli in another WRT Audi.

In fact, WRT's triumph came after an almost flawless run while their opponents hit problems of the most diverse natures during the whole day of racing, like the failures in the new Mercedes AMG GT3 from Black Falcon and RAM Racing, mechanical failures from the Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán and from the Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS, as well the heavy accident during the night that took the Scuderia Praha Ferrari 458 GT3 out of action. The czech squad was then suspended by the organisers Creventic from the second round of the 24H Series, the 12 Hours of Mugello due to unsuitable driving standards.

The overall podium was completed by the Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 coming 5 laps later, in what was a reserve car after their main machine burned to the ground earlier in the week, and the C. Abt Racing Audi R8 LMS, coming eight laps behind.

This victory is the first in 2016 for the new generation Audi R8 LMS, which replaced the Audi R8 LMS ultra in 2015 and is keeping a streak of good results since its first competition entry.

PHOTO: 24H SERIES