Lechner Racing team used the recent Dubai Autodrome national race day, featuring the NGK Racing Series, to make a point with an eye of racing the car in January’s Hankook 24H DUBAI where team principal, Walter Lechner, believes the car has a good chance of taking top honours in the tenth edition of the race.
Making its Dubai debut in white, the Bentley in the capable hands of Michael Ammermueller, won the opening race of the weekend, and would have won the second if not given a stop-and-go-penalty for a start infringement and then went on to set the fastest lap around the grand prix configuration circuit where the Hankook 24H will be run.
Bentley is a marque rich in pedigree and heritage, the recent race weekend proved that with an illustrious outfit such as Lechner Racing running the project the car is capable of winning. On the day it was equal to, if not better than, the likes of: Mercedes SLS AMG (similar to the 2013 race winning Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon Mercedes), a couple of Ferraris and a bevy of Porsches.
Veteran race driver and now team owner Walter Lechner explained the reasons behind campaigning a one million dirham race car, “We are racers, we want to be in competition and we have been thinking about what we can do unique in the GCC region. So we looked at the Hankook 24H where Dubai Autodrome and Creventic have done a fantastic job to run it now for the tenth year, and we decided we have to part of that race.”
“Because of my affiliation to Volkswagen and Porsche we looked at possibilities within the group and decided on Bentley. Obviously its a nice car, and also a competitive car. We did all the calculations and concluded that we can win the Hankook 24H DUBAI with this car,” declared Lechner.
“So we have built this car and prepared it for a shakedown race here in the NGK Racing Series and we are very pleased with the results. We did it low key, even Bentley do not know we are here, because we wanted to prove something to them and to do the talking on track. This we have done with a win and fastest lap.”
Lechner explained, “Racing a car such as this one in this region is logical as it is the biggest market for Bentley. The biggest sales of Bentley in the world is in Dubai. The third biggest market is in Saudi – so a very important place for the brand to be seen. And it is a brand with a lot of history in motorsport, having won Le Mans.”
“I always think deliver first, then ask for support afterwards – that’s our style. We have a meeting soon where we can say we are heading in the right direction and hopefully we will have this car on the grid for the Hankook 24H DUBAI,” added Lechner.
On 9 and 10 January 2015, Dubai Autodrome hosts the tenth edition of the 24H DUBAI, this year under the auspices of Hankook, where over 90 cars are expected on the grid for what should be another blockbuster contest.