Tuesday 13 / January / 2026
MUSCAT: Al-Manar Racing has teamed up with Dubai-based Dragon Racing to try and win the prestigious Michelin Dubai 24H race at the Dubai Autodrome for a second successive season. The race takes place this weekend (January 17th-18th) with 33 GT3 crews included in a massive quality field of 65 cars.
In 2025, Oman’s Al-Faisal Al-Zubair joined forces with Dan Harper, Max Hesse, Ben Tuck and Darren Leung to stun his rivals and claim overall victory in a BMW M4 GT3 Evo run by Team WRT under the Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT banner.
On this occasion, Al-Faisal has joined forces with Zimbabwean racer Axcil Jeffries, American Dustin Blattner and professional German driver Dennis Marschall to try and achieve success in a Dragon Racing-run Ferrari 296 GT3.
The Omani drove the car in competition for the first time last month and narrowly missed out on outright victory in the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi, when a late pit stop for a brake fluid leak deprived him, Chris Froggatt and Ben Tuck of a stunning win.
Al-Zubair has raced alongside 31-year-old Jeffries on numerous occasions in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
Blattner, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer to the sport: the 39-year-old only started racing in 2023 in the Porsche Sprint Challenge, before progressing to the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint and Endurance Cups with the likes of Rutronik and Kessel Racing.
Marschall competes in the ADAC German Masters series and won the 2024 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Like many racers, the 29-year-old started his career in karting and has worked with many of the world’s leading endurance teams. Last year, he competed successfully in the Bronze Cup category in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint and Endurance Cups.
Al-Zubair said: “Looking forward to Dubai 24. This is one of my favourite races and one that I enjoy very much. It is an extremely difficult race to win. Last year, was a great job by the whole BMW team to win the race.
“This year, we have a new challenge with the Ferrari, the new Dragon Racing team and new team-mates. It will definitely be a tough challenge. We are up for it. The grid is quite a bit more competitive. It won’t be easy.
“Our line-up is extremely strong with Dustin Blattner as our bronze (driver) alongside Dennis Marschall. Then it will be Axcil Jeffries and myself, who have won Dubai 24H before. I think we have a good mix of experience and winning mentality for this race. The combination is great and Dragon Racing is based in Dubai, so I am excited for this weekend.”
Fierce competition in the GT3 category comes from the likes of Haas RT, Herberth Motorsport, Grove Racing by Getspeed, Team Motopark, Winward Racing, Team WRT, Optimum Motorsport, Pure Rxcing and Paradine Competition.
The Dubai 24-Hour race was inaugurated in 2006 and ran as a 24-hour series race for the first time in 2015. It is now one of the most popular events in the endurance racing calendar.
The first official two-hour free practice stint gets underway at 10.30hrs on Friday. Three 15-minute qualifying sessions for GT3 cars will take centre stage from 13.45hrs to 14.40hrs. A hectic day’s action concludes with a top 10 shoot-out and 90 minutes of night practice, starting at 19.00hrs.
After a 30-minute warm-up session on Saturday morning, the Michelin Dubai 24H 2026 gets underway at 13.00hrs and finishes at the same time on Sunday.
