Gulf 12 Hours

Gulf 12 Hours
VenueYas Marina Circuit
Corporate sponsorLenovo
First race2012
Duration12 Hours
Most wins (driver)Davide Rigon (5)
Most wins (team)Kessel Racing (4)
AF Corse (4)
Most wins (manufacturer)Ferrari (8)

The Gulf 12 Hours is a 12-hour annual GT endurance racing event that usually takes place at the Yas Marina Circuit in the United Arab Emirates during the third Sunday of December, except in 2021 when it was held at the Bahrain International Circuit in January. In 2012 and, for the decennial, in 2022, the race was held twice: in January and December. On 29 July 2022, it was announced that Gulf 12 Hours joined the Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar both in 2022 and 2023.[1] The race did not return as part of the IGTC calendar in 2024 after the two-year contract was not extended.[2]

Winners

Year Drivers Car Team Remarks
2012 (Jan) Marco Cioci
Matthew Griffin
Piergiuseppe Perazzini
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 AF Corse 1 299 Laps. First running of the event.
2012 (Dec) Gaetano Ardagna
Gianmaria Bruni
Toni Vilander
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 AF Corse 1 309 Laps.
2013 Bernd Schneider
Jeroen Bleekemolen
Khaled Al Qubaisi
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon Racing 308 laps.[3]
2014 Michele Rugolo
Davide Rigon
Stephen Wyatt
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 AF Corse 315 laps.[4]
2015 Michał Broniszewski
Davide Rigon
Giacomo Piccini
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Kessel Racing 301 laps.[5]
2016 Michał Broniszewski
Davide Rigon
Giacomo Piccini
Ferrari 488 GT3 Kessel Racing 300 laps.
2017 Michał Broniszewski
Davide Rigon
Miguel Molina
Ferrari 488 GT3 Kessel Racing 302 laps completed. Kessel Racing scoring a Hat-trick of wins.
2018 Michał Broniszewski
Davide Rigon
Alessandro Pier Guidi
Ferrari 488 GT3 Kessel Racing 313 laps completed. Kessel Racing scoring its record breaking 4th win in a row.
2019 Christopher Mies
Rinat Salikhov
Dries Vanthoor
Audi R8 LMS Evo Attempto Racing 316 laps.
2020 Race moved to 2021 due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
2021 Isa Al-Khalifa
Ben Barnicoat
Martin Kodrić
McLaren 720S GT3 2 Seas Motorsport 341 laps. This edition was relocated to the Bahrain International Circuit.[6]
2022 (Jan) Isa Al-Khalifa
Ben Barnicoat
Martin Kodrić
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 2 Seas Motorsport 359 laps. New distance record.
2022 (Dec) Antonio Fuoco
James Calado
Alessandro Pier Guidi
Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 AF Corse - Francorchamps Motors 335 laps.[7] First Gulf 12 Hours to be a part of the SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge.[8]
2023 Maro Engel
Mikaël Grenier
Luca Stolz
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing 348 laps.[9] Last Gulf 12 Hours to be a part of the SRO IGTC.[2]
2024 Gilles Magnus
Dennis Marschall
Bihuang Zhou
Audi R8 LMS Evo II Saintéloc Racing 353 laps.[10] The No. 69 Optimum Motorsport McLaren driven by Todd Coleman, Frederik Schandorff and Aaron Telitz crossed the finish line first, but lost victory after receiving two 30 second penalties post-race for speeding in pit lane.[11]

Multiple winners

By driver

Wins Driver Years
5 Davide Rigon 2014–2018
4 Michał Broniszewski 2015–2018
2 Giacomo Piccini 2015–2016
Alessandro Pier Guidi 2018, 2022 (Dec)
Isa Al-Khalifa 2021, 2022 (Jan)
Ben Barnicoat 2021, 2022 (Jan)
Martin Kodrić 2021, 2022 (Jan)

By manufacturer

Wins Manufacturer Years
8 Ferrari 2012 (Jan), 2012 (Dec), 2014–2018, 2022 (Dec)
3 Mercedes-AMG 2013, 2022 (Jan), 2023
2 Audi 2019, 2024

References

  1. ^ "Gulf 12 Hours replaces Kyalami as 2022 IGTC finale". motorsport.com. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b Kilbey, Stephen (22 August 2023). "Gulf 12 Hours To Stick With Original 2024 Date". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Gulf 12 Hours win seals a dream season for Team Abu Dhaby by Black Falcon". www.gulf12hours.com. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Victory for AF Corse in 2014 Gulf 12 Hours". www.gulf12hours.com. 13 December 2014. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Kessel Racing win the 5th Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit". www.gulf12hours.com. 11 December 2015. Archived from the original on 19 May 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Gulf 12 Hours January 2021 Edition relocates to Bahrain". www.gulf12hours.com. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  7. ^ "IGTC / 12 Ore del Golfo: trionfo Ferrari, Juncadella campione del mondo". FormulaPassion.it (in Italian). 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  8. ^ "Gulf 12 Hours joins Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli". intercontinentalgtchallenge.com. SRO Motorsports Group. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Gulf 12 Hours – Race" (PDF). 10 December 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Gulf 12 Hours – Race" (PDF). Endurance-Info. Gulf 12 Hours. 15 December 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  11. ^ "Saintéloc Audi Wins Gulf 12 Hours After Optimum Penalised Post-Race". Dailysportscar. 15 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.