Strong showing for Vale racer Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke in Dubai

DRIVER CHANGE: Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke takes over the driving duties in the Century Motorsport BMW in the Dubai 24 Hours (Photo Piers Taylor/CJB Media)

Driving a BMW M4 GT4 for Century Motorsport, Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke finished last weekend's Dubai 24 Hours fourth in the GT4 class writes James Beckett.

The Vale racer was sharing driving duties in the BMW with James Winslow, Alexander Bukhanstov and George King - and the squad performed well throughout the race at the Dubai Autodrome to narrowly miss out on what would have been a well-deserved podium finish.

Gordon-Colebrooke, a regular British GT Championship competitor, took the start for the BMW squad, and put in a strong opening stint in a confident manner. As the race progressed, the Century BMW developed a few frustrating issues that slowed progress, but not enough to rule the car out of contention.

ENDURANCE RACER: Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke pictured in the Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 last weekend (Photo Piers Taylor/CJB Media)

Completing 508 laps by the fall of the chequered flag after twenty-four hours of action, Gordon-Colebrooke's car was placed one position behind the leading Century BMW that finished third in class driven by Daren Jorgensen, Danny van Dongen, Brett Strom and team boss, Nathan Freke.

Freke said of his team's performance, "We could not be prouder of everyone here. The dedication, stamina and team work got us a great result. Both cars made it to the end of the race, which means Century Motorsport has finished with both cars in every 24 hour race we have entered."

The race was won overall by the WRT Audi R8 GT3 of Dries Vanthoor, Christopher Mies, Mohammed Saud, Fahed Al Saud and Axcil Jeffries. The second WRT Audi, headed by Frederic Vervisch, finished in second position, the 1-2 finish crowning a good week for the Belgian-based team after announcing the signing of multiple Moto GP champion, Valentino Rossi, for the full 2022 GT Challenge Sprint and Endurance season.

* The growth in popularity of online motorsport competition shows no sign of slowing down, and if last weekend's Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans is anything to go by, then the sport appears to have a strong future. The fully sanctioned event saw many top flight racers, including 2021 FIA F1 world champion, Max Verstappen, come together for a realistic simulator based event. With online racers connected from around the world, Vale based virtual racer, James Baldwin, a former winner in the British GT Championship, battled hard against Verstappen during an exciting opening to the race. Ultimately out of luck, Baldwin did star in the competition that was eventually won by the Veloce ESports team.

Ross Gunn and Jordan Albert both also contested the event, that saw the online competitors race around the Circuit de la Sarthe in LMP2 or GTE specification virtual racers.