David Wall and the Wall Racing team will return to the international racing scene next month, travelling to the United Arab Emirates to compete in the acclaimed Hankook Dubai 24 Hour.
Wall and his crew will join up with the English-based Toro Verde GT team, campaigning a Porsche Type 992 GT3 Cup car that raced in this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain.
Wall will share driving duties with this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Pro-Am Champion Adrian Flack, while UK Toro Verde GT drivers Frazer McFadden and Edward Stanton complete the Anglo/Aussie line-up.
Wall is no stranger to endurance racing, having competed in numerous Bathurst 12 Hour races as well as some long-distance races at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit in the mid to late 2000s, but this will be his first time competing in a 24 hour event.
“I’m good friends with Jules Westwood, an experienced driver and team manager who is involved with the Toro Verde GT team, and he encouraged me to give the Dubai race a go,” Wall said.
“I’ve wanted to do a 24 hour race for ages, and it’s great that I’m able to bring my crew over as well, and give them an opportunity to work at such a major international endurance race – it will be a great way to make sure they’re all sharp before the Bathurst 12 Hour.”
Both Wall and Flack are expecting the Dubai 24 Hour’s unique characteristics to provide challenges, and while Flack previously competed in the race a decade ago, he said it has changed significantly since then.
“There is definitely more of a speed difference between the fastest and slowest cars, and the field is even bigger than it used to be,” Flack said.
“There are often fields of up to 90 cars racing on a track that’s shorter than Bathurst, with everything from TCR cars all the way up to full-blown GT3 cars – the track will be super-busy.
“Our Porsche will be neither the fastest nor the slowest in the field, so we’ll be dealing with the challenges of both passing slower cars and being passed by faster cars, which is what endurance racing is all about.”
“The strategic side of things will be a bit different to the Bathurst 12 Hour and other races I’ve done in Australia, because they don’t have Safety Cars – if there’s an incident, they call a Code 60 where everyone has to slow down to 60km/h without the field bunching up,” Wall added.
“Also, the refuelling is done in a bowser area separate to pit lane, so if you come in for a fuel stop and all the bowsers are occupied, you have to wait – like queuing up at a service station! That will keep us on our toes, that’s for sure.” The Dubai 24 Hour takes place on 12-14 January, and Australian fans can follow the action on the live stream at 24hseries.com.
