Team Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon were forced to retire their AMG GT3 from the 11th edition of the Hankook 24H Dubai following a contact by a slower car on lap 119.

Led by Khaled Al Qubaisi, the team comprises of Flying Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen, FIA GT Cup World Champion Maro Engel (Germany), the experienced Hubert Haupt, also of Germany, and Dutch Indy Dontje, a new addition to the team.

Dutchman Bleekemolen opened the campaign for the Abu Dhabi outfit behind the wheel of the all-new Mercedes AMG GT3 from fifth on the grid in class, steadily improving upon his lap times from an opening best of 2:04.210 to a personal best of 2:00.328 as the opening two hours progressed.

The team was second and in a position to start a battle for the lead when the contact took place, damaging the front left suspension, which required the team to pit despite having the pace.

Bleekemolen said: “The car was running great and we were catching the cars in front and then I tried to overtake one of the slower GT3s, a Porsche, and then he just turned in on me and I thought he had seen me but apparently not; he pushed me onto the curb and then we touched.”

“I tried to do everything to avoid it but I could not do anything more. I mean it should not have happened anyway, we need to anticipate on people not seeing us which I always do; but yes I trusted that he had seen me and I could go for the pass, and then he turned in and that was it.”

Al Qubaisi said: “Unfortunately, we have to retire due to an incident with another car while trying to overtake. Thankfully, Bleekemolen is OK; we were P2 when it happened and could have been leading now. Not meant to be, we will try again next year. Thanks to our fans and sponsors for supporting us.”