New Leaders in Bike and Quad Classes

Lead changes occurred in both bike and quad classes on Monday as the cars and trucks took their rest days. Each class had the defending champion take point as the 2015 Dakar Rally heads into the final five stages.

Chilean Pablo Quintanilla won his first stage of the 2015 Dakar Rally and is the first non-European rider to win in the bike class in this year's event. The KTM rider defeated Yamaha's Juan Pedrero Garcia by 11 seconds with Stefan Svitko finishing a second back of the Spaniard. Toby Price finished fourth, 41 seconds back with Laia Sanz rounding out the top five, two minutes and 31 seconds behind Quintanilla. 

The big shake up was in the overall classifications as Marc Coma finished ninth on the stage, seven minutes and 37 seconds off the Chilean but the defending Dakar winner has taken the overall lead as Honda's Joan Barreda finished 72nd on the day, three hours and five minutes behind Quintanilla. Barreda had to be towed at one point of the stage by Jeremias Israel Esquerre. 

Coma holds a 9-minute and 11-second lead over Paulo Gonçalves, who finished fifteenth on the stage, just under five minutes behind Coma. Quintanilla is 11 minutes and 11 seconds back in third with Price 15 minutes and 56 seconds back in fourth. Svitko rounds out the top five, trailing Coma by 26 and a half minutes. Ruben Faria is sixth, 34 minutes and 34 seconds back. Fair finished seven seconds back of Coma on stage eight. Alain Duclos is the final rider within an hour of the overall leader, 58 minutes and eight seconds back in seventh position. 

Barreda dropped to 16th, two hours and 51 seconds back of Coma in the overall classifications. 

In the quad class, Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli won stage eight, his first of the 2015 Dakar Rally. The Argentine won by seven minutes and 54 seconds over Ignacio Casale but he Chilean jumped tot he overall lead in the quad class. Sergio Lafuente finished third, 11 minutes and four seconds back. Bolivian Walter Nosiglia finished 16 minutes and 38 seconds back in fourth with Frenchman Christophe Declerck in fifth, 29 minutes and 37 seconds back.

Rafał Sonik entered stage eight as the quad class leader but after finishing eighth on the stage, 36 minutes and 42 seconds after Gonzalez Ferioli, the Pole will enter the final five stages six minutes and 49 seconds behind the defending quad class champion. Lafuente trails Casale by 49 minutes and 11 seconds back in third. Gonzalez Ferioli is still over two hours and 45 minutes behind the Chilean despite winning today's stage. 

All four class will be in competition for the final five stages of the 2015 rally with the competitors heading from Iquique to Calama. Tomorrow's stage is the final stage of the 2015 Dakar Rally to end in Chile. 

Musings From the Weekend: License and Registration Please

Endurance racing and electric racing filled the second weekend of January while preparations for the 24 Hours of Daytona are underway. However, things that occurred off the track and more specifically with the FIA caught my attention. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

FIA Super License Points System

The FIA announced a new system to acquire an FIA Super License. A driver will have to be at least 18 years old, having a valid road license, passed a test on the sporting regulations, spent at least two years in junior formulas and accumulate at least 40 points over a three year period.

The license points system has stirred up much controversy as such a system won't have prevented the likes of world champions Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Jenson Button from making their when they did, while preventing the likes of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, Jr. from making their debuts in 2015.

I like the points system. At least I like the idea of it. While people bring up the likes of Senna, Schumacher, Räikkönen and Button as reasons for why the points system should not exist, I argue that they all came from different eras when teams could test every weekend they weren't racing if they wanted. A driver can't waltz into Formula One in the current environment with the type of experience the four listed above had. Today's drivers need more time in junior formulas and should not be rushed through the system.

Have we not learned anything from Red Bull's driver development system? The system that drop kicks drivers into the deep end before a driver is 21 and kicks them out if the results aren't good enough by the age of 23. There is no need to rush younger and younger drivers to Formula One, especially when they have so much time ahead of them. Verstappen could spend another three or four years in junior formulas and still have a great career in Formula One. There is no reason to be putting a 17-year old in a Formula One car after one year of car racing.

Speaking of all those drivers Red Bull threw out, I thought it was very telling that most of them were at the front of the Formula E race on Saturday and one Red Bull development driver that was completely ignored, António Félix da Costa, won the bloody race while Jaime Alguersuari, who has out of Formula One before he was 22 years old finished fourth and ran up front all race, Sébastien Buemi started on pole and led the first half before the papier-mâché suspension on Formula E cars broke on the Swiss driver and Jean-Éric Vergne finished sixth and was in contention for a podium before running wide in a corner.

The proposed changes would hopefully slow down the system but not also prevent paid drivers from just getting rides without taking into consideration their results in other serious. What happens on the track should be the most important factor in hiring a driver and a license points system would emphasize results, not just money.

Remember when Sergey Sirtokin was rumored to become a Sauber driver for the 2014 season? Why? At that point in his career, the Russian had done less than Verstappen despite being a year older than the Dutch driver. He finished third in AutoGP but that doesn't get any points toward a Super License, had finished 5th in the Italian Formula Three Championship, good enough for one point and finished 9th in Formula Renault 3.5, good for another point. He had two points toward a license prior to 2014. After finishing fifth in FR 3.5 this past year he now has nine points. Does anyone think he was/is ready for Formula One off results alone? Let's not forget to mention the like of Yuji Ide, Sakon Yamamoto and Zsolt Baumgartner, who would have all been kept out of Formula One seats and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The point system has a few problem as it doesn't account for many series. AutoGP is not recognized, a series Romain Grosjean, Luca Filippi and Narain Karthikeyan have run in recent years and a series Felipe Massa won when it was known as Euro Formula 3000 prior to his Formula One career. DTM is not recognized, a series Paul di Resta and Christjan Albers transition from directly to Formula One seats. NASCAR is not recognized and say what you want about NASCAR but it is a major series with talented drivers. Indy Lights is not recognized, a series that saw Luiz Razia, who finished 2nd in the 2012 GP2 Championship, which would have gotten him 40 points, enough to qualify for a Super License, finished fifth behind Gabby Chaves, Jack Harvey, Zach Veach and Matthew Brabham. Let's not forget how close Razia was to making his Formula One debut for Marussia before being replaced by Jules Bianchi.

Along with the series listed above, the World Touring Car Championship, Pro Mazda, U.S. F2000, Formula E, World Rally Championship and LMP2, whether it be WEC or ELMS, are not recognized as series that could get you points toward a Super License.

While these series that exist don't get any points toward a Super License, a series that is a figment of the FIA's imagination, Formula Two gets the most points toward a Super License with the Formula Two championship potentially earning 60 points, runner-up earning 50 points and third earning 40 points. The GP2 champion will earn 50 point while the GP2 runner-up gets 40 points. However, the system has undermined established championships such as the WEC and IndyCar, whose champions would earn 40 points, the same amount as the FIA European Formula Three champion will earn. The Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion, which has been the primary training ground for recent Formula One drivers such as Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Éric Vergne, Jules Bianchi, Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz, Jr., can only earn 30 points, the same amount as GP3.

I didn't even mention Super Formula, whose champion will only earn 20 points despite being faster than IndyCars on road courses and having drivers such as Kazuki Nakajima, André Lotterer, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Narain Karthikeyan, Loïc Duval and James Rossiter on the grid.

I like the point system but I think the allocation of points has been done poorly. First off, Formula Two shouldn't get any points until there is a Formula Two series with real teams and drivers competing at real tracks with real fans in the stands. Second, WEC, IndyCar and Super Formula are professional series and should be treated like wise, receiving the most points. GP2 and FR 3.5 should be on level teams, as should be GP3 and Formula Three. More series have to be included into the system. The precedent is there for a top DTM driver to move to Formula One yet the FIA failed to taken that into consideration when first drawing up this point system.

While many disagree with the FIA's proposed Super License Points System, I understand where the FIA is coming from but will admit that the FIA could have done much better in distributing the points among the series.

Speedweeks Missing Attraction
It will never happen but I have thrown it out there on multiple occasions: IndyCar kicking off their season at Daytona Speedweeks. I think it is a win-win for everyone. If NASCAR can come to Indianapolis I don't see why IndyCar couldn't go to Daytona and run the road course. I think it would add more bang for a fans buck at Daytona. I have thrown out IndyCar running the same days as the shootout and/or the duel races but what about kicking off the IndyCar season at Daytona the Friday night before the 24 Hours of Daytona? You would have no NFL to worry about, most of the IndyCar grid is already in Daytona (I count 11 drivers with rides, plus Justin Wilson and Josef Newgarden were down at testing looking for seat and you have drivers such as Rubens Barrichello, A.J. Allmendinger, Bruno Junqueira, Tristan Vautier, Martin Plowman and Townsend Bell all at Daytona with recent IndyCar experience that would make for potentially exciting season opening one-offs) and the schedule could allow for it.

The Wednesday prior to the 24 Hours of Daytona has Ferrari Challenge and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge on track but they are done before 5:00 p.m. You could practice all evening and into the night. Thursday is jam-packed with sports cars but there is plenty of time for a nighttime qualifying session. Friday has the final few sessions for the IMSA teams with the CTSCC race but that is over by 4:30 p.m. You can have the IndyCar race start at 7:00 or 7:30 p.m., under the lights and we all know how great IndyCars look under the lights. I think it's a great idea. It would shorten the IndyCar off-season by six weeks. We have gone nearly four and a half months since the last IndyCar race. Starting in January is the only way to justify ending by Labor Day.

Random Thought
Does anyone else think actor Eddie Redmayne looks like Mike Conway?

Winner From the Weekend
You know about the Dubai 24 Hour and António Félix da Costa but did you know...

Eli Tomac won the Supercross race from Phoenix, the first victory of his career.

Coming Up This Weekend
The Chili Bowl from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Dakar Rally wraps up as the competitors make their way back to Buenos Aires.

Three New Winners on Sunday of Dakar

The cars and trucks headed back to Iquique for stage eight while the bikes and quad headed to Uyuni, Bolivia for their seventh stage. Overall, we saw three competitors pick up their first stage win of the 2015 Dakar Rally on Sunday. We will start with the stage eight results before heading to those still on stage seven.

Yazeed Al-Rahji won his first stage in the car class by a minute and 12 seconds over yesterday's stage winner Orlando Terranova. This was the first stage victory of the rally for Toyota and the first time a Mini didn't end out the top step of the podium. Nasser Al-Attiyah finished third, two minutes and 36 seconds back and will hold on to his overall lead heading into the rest day tomorrow. Giniel de Villiers finished two minutes and 49 seconds back of his Toyota teammate in fourth with Krzysztof Holowczyc rounding out the top five, three minutes and 12 seconds back.

Nani Roma finished 12 seconds behind Holowczyc in sixth with Stéphane Peterhansel 22 seconds behind the Spaniard in seventh. Stage five winner Vladimir Vasiley finished eighth, six minutes off Al-Rahji. Chilean Boris Garafulic finished ninth, ten minutes and nine seconds back with Carlos Sousa rounding out the top ten, 11 minutes and 17 seconds off Al-Rahji.

Robby Gordon finished an hour and seven minutes behind Al-Rahji in 43rd position.

Al-Attiyah leads de Villiers by eight minutes and 27 seconds with Al-Rahji 18 minutes and 40 seconds back after the stage victory. Holowczyc is 54 minutes and 38 seconds back of Al-Attiyah with Bernhard Ten Brinke rounding out the top five, hour and 22 minutes back.

Peterhansel is eighth, an hour and 51 minutes behind the Mini driver. Terranova is six hours and 42 seconds back in 23rd position with Gordon just over ten minutes behind the Argentine in 24th.

Eduard Nikolaev dropped from leading the truck class to fourth on stage seven but recovered to win stage eight by 11 minutes and 16 seconds over Gérard de Rooy. Andrey Karginov finished 14 minutes and 58 seconds back in third. Aleš Loprais finished 20 minutes and a second back in fourth with overall truck leader Airat Mardeev finishing fifth, 32 minutes and two seconds back.

Mardeev leads by five minutes and nine seconds over Karginov heading into the rest day. Nikolaev has cut the deficit to Mardeev to 12 minutes and 41 seconds with the victory today. Loprais is 59 minutes and 19 seconds back in fourth with Dmitry Sotnikov fifth, an hour and 14 minutes back after finishing ninth on stage eight. Hans Stacey is sixth, two hours and five minutes behind Mardeev. The Dutchman finished seventh on stage eight.

Monday is rest day for cars and trucks before heading from Iquique to Calama.

The bikes and quad went to Bolivia and Paulo Gonçalves won his first stage of the 2015 Dakar Rally in the bike class. The Portuguese rider defeated Marc Coma by 14 seconds with Matthias Walkner finishing a half minute off in third. Pablo Quintanilla finished a minute and two seconds behind Walkner with Toby Price finishing 17 seconds behind the Chilean in fifth.

Juan Pedrero Garcia finished sixth, three minutes and 20 seconds behind Gonçalves with Alain Duclos finishing 28 seconds behind the Yamaha rider. Hélder Rodrigues finished eighth, four minutes and five seconds off his fellow Portuguese and Honda rider. Stefan Svitko finished ninth, five minutes and nine seconds back with South African Riaan Van Niekerk rounding out the top ten, six minutes and six seconds back. Jordi Viladoms finished four seconds off the South African in 11th with class leader Joan Barreda three seconds off Viladoms in 12th.

Barreda's class lead has been cut to six minutes and 28 seconds as Coma will try to make a charge in the second half of the rally. Gonçalves is ten minutes and 59 seconds back in third. Quintanilla is 25 minutes and 16 seconds back in fourth with Price 29 minutes and 20 seconds back in fifth.

Rodrigues is sixth, 33 minutes and 56 seconds off Barreda with Svitko 27 seconds behind the Portguese rider. Ruben Faria trails by 40 minutes and 55 seconds in eighth after finishing 14th on stage seven. Duclos is 50 minutes and 21 seconds back in ninth with David Casteu rounding out the top ten, trailing by nearly an hour and 17 minutes.

Paraguayan Nelson Augusto Sanabria Galeano won stage seven in the quad class by five minutes and 46 seconds over class leader Rafał Sonik. Ignacio Casale finished 11 minutes and 37 seconds behind Sanabria Galeano. Chilean Ricardo Vinet finished fourth, 24 minutes and 20 seconds back with Sergio Lafuente rounding out the top five, 32 minutes and 33 seconds behind the Paraguayan.

Sonic leads Casale by 21 minutes and 59 seconds with Lafuente an hour and eight minutes back in third. Sanabria Gaeano is three hours and 25 minutes behind the Pole.

The bike and quads will now double-back from Uyuni to Iquique on Monday.

Terranova and Loprais Victorious on Stage Seven

The car class remained status quo after heading to Uyuni, Bolivia for the finish of stage seven but the truck class was shaken up as they stayed in Chile.

Orlando Terranova won his third stage of the Dakar Rally by two minutes and 20 seconds over Toyota' Yazeed Alrahji. Bernhard Ten Brinke finished third, six seconds behind his fellow Toyota driver. Krzysztof Holowczyc finished fourth, two minutes and 57 seconds back of the Argentine with Nani Roma rounding out the top five, four minutes and two seconds off his Mini teammate.

Giniel de Villiers finished sixth on stage seventh, six minutes and 50 seconds back. Overall leader Nasser Al-Attiyah finished seventh, nine minutes and 48 seconds back of Terranova with Stéphane Peterhansel finishing ten minutes and 43 seconds back in eighth position. Robby Gordon came home in ninth, five seconds behind the Frenchman. Stage five winner Vladimir Vasilyev rounded out the top ten, 13 minutes and 32 seconds back.

Al-Attiyah holds an eight minute and 14 second lead over de Villiers after seven stages. Alrahri is 21 minutes and 16 seconds back in third with Holowczyc 54 minutes and two seconds back in fourth. Ten Brinke is three minutes and one second behind the Pole in fifth. Erik Van Loon is sixth, over an hour and quarter back after finishing thirteenth on stage seven. Christian Lavieille is seventh, an hour and 37 minutes behind Al-Attiyah. Peterhansel is eighth, an hour and 50 minutes back.

Gordon is 23rd, five hours and 48 minutes back while Terranova is a position behind the American, trailing Al-Attiyah by six hours and 43 minutes after the stage victory. Roma is 35th, nine hours and 19 minutes back.

While the cars went to Bolivia, the trucks stayed in Chile and headed to Atacama. Aleš Loprais won his first stage of the 2015 Dakar Rally by five minutes and 39 seconds over Gérard de Rooy. Andrey Karginov finished ten seconds behind the Dutchman in third position with Dmitry Sotnikov coming home seven minutes and 17 seconds back in fourth. Airat Mardeev finished fifth, eight minutes and 14 seconds off the Czech driver but retook the truck leads after Eduard Nikolaev had a disastrous stage. Nikolaev finished an hour and six behind Loprais. 

Hans Stacey finished sixth, 25 minutes and 59 seconds off Loprais. 

Mardeev has a 22 minute and 13 second lead over Karginov while Sotnikov is 44 minutes and six seconds back in third. Nikolaev fell to fourth, 44 minutes and 23 seconds back of his fellow Kamaz driver. Loprais rounds out the top five, an hour and 11 minutes behind Mardeev. Siarhei Viazovich is sixth, an hour and 46 minutes back after finishing 13th on stage seven. Stacey is seventh, an hour and 47 minutes back. 

The bikes and quads return to competition tomorrow as they will head from Iquique to Uyuni, Bolivia. The cars will turn around and head back to Iquique as will the trucks before their rest day on Monday. 

 

Victory Falls Into Da Costa's Lap

The Buenos Aires Formula E race might have been the craziest in the series minuscule history. Twice the leader retired from the race after contact with the barrier and once the leader was penalized. Sébastien Buemi led from pole position and through the pit stops but hit the barriers on lap 23, handing the lead to championship leader Lucas di Grassi. The Brazilian however would hit the wall in the same spot Buemi hit just three laps later, giving the lead to Nick Heidfeld.

The German appeared to be cruising to victory but was handed a penalty for speeding in the pit lane with less than five laps to go. Heidfeld served the penalty, giving the lead to Aguri driver António Félix da Costa, who held on for his first victory in the series. Nicolas Prost came home second after a late pass on Jean-Éric Vergne. Nelson Piquet, Jr. charged for his second consecutive third place finished. Jaime Alguersuari finished fourth despite being ran into by Daniel Abt with two laps to go. Bruno Senna rounded out the top five with Vergne finishing sixth despite going off course.

Sam Bird finished seventh after over coming a penalty for exiting the pit lane when the light was red. Bird would score fastest lap and pick up two bonus points. Salvador Durán finished eighth in his second Formula E start, scoring the Mexican his first career points. Heidfeld would drop to ninth after serving the speeding penalty. Oriol Servià rounded out the points in tenth.

Stéphane Sarrazin finished 11th with Ho-Pin Tung in 12th. Marco Andretti finished 13th on debut with Abt ending up 14th. Jérôme d'Ambrosio rounded out the top fifteen with Jarno Trulli finishing 16th.

Di Grassi retains the points lead with 58 points but the gap has shrunk to 10 points with Bird in second. Buemi is 15 points back after scoring three points for pole position. Prost is 16 points behind the Brazilian with Piquet, Jr. 21 points behind of his fellow Brazilian.

Da Costa jumps up to sixth in the championship with his victory as he is 29 points behind di Grassi. Alguersuari is three points behind da Costa with d'Ambrosio four points behind the Spaniard. Karun Chandhok, Franck Montagny and Bruno Senna all have 18 points with Servià on 15 points, rounding out the top ten.

The next round of the Formula E championship will take places on the street of Miami on March 14th.

Black Falcon Obliterates Field in 2015 Dubai 24 Hour

The 10th anniversary Dubai 24 Hour was no contest as the #2 Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 of Yelmer Buurman, Oliver Webb, Hubert Haupt and Abdulaziz Al-Faisal led 550 of 604 on their way to victory, a record-setting third Dubai 24 Hour victory for the team. The #2 Mercedes led the final 329 laps as the German manufacture picked up their third Dubai 24 Hour victory, matching BMW and trailing only Porsche, which has won the Middle East endurance race four times.

Ram Racing made it a Mercedes 1-2 with the #30 Mercedes of Adam Christoudoulou, Tom Onslow-Cole, Thomas Jäger and Cheerag Ayra after completing 600 laps. The #88 Dragon Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 of Jordan Grogor, Matt Griffin, Rob Barff and Mohammad Jawa rounded out the podium, finishing nearly a minute and ten seconds behind the Ram Racing Mercedes.

The #28 KPM Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Paul White, Stefan Mücke and Jonathan Adam ran at the front all race, including leading 18 laps and finished fourth, eight laps down. Mücke set the fastest lap running a 1:59.545 on lap 419. The Nissan GT Academy Team RJN #23 Nissan GTR GT3 rounded out the top five, 13 laps down with Florian Strauss, Ricardo Sanchez, Ahmed Bin Khanen, Gaetien Paletou and Nick Hanmmann, the only American in the A6 class.

The #4 Scuderia Praha Ferrari of Jírí Písarík, Jaromír Jarik, Matteo Malucelli and Peter Kox finished 18 laps down in sixth with the #99 Attempto Racing Porsche 997 GT3 R of Philipp Wlazik, Bernd Kleinbach, Andreas Liehm, Bill Barazetti and Arkin Aka finishing two laps behind them in seventh and the #69 Gulf Racing Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3 of Stuart Hall, Jamie Campbell-Walter and Frederic Fatien finishing two laps behind the Porsche in eighth.

Black Falcon had two victories as their #26 Porsche 911 Cup of Andreas Fjordbach, Keita Sawa, Andreas Weishaupt and Saud Al Faisal won the 997 class, completing 580 laps and finishing ninth overall. The #25 Black Flacon Porsche driven by Christian Raubach, Manuel Metzger, Burked Kaiser and Gerwin Schuring finished second in the 997 class, ten overall and ten seconds behind the their teammates. Finishing 11th overall and rounding out the 997 class podium was the #7 Lechner Racing Middle East Porsche of Jaap Van Lagen, Klaus Blacher, Clemens Schmidt and Fahad Algosaibi.

Other class winners:

The #163 Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4 of Salih Yoluc, Bradley Ellis, Euan Alers-Hankey and Adrian Barwick finishing 20th overall, winning the SP3 class.

The #76 Racingdivas by Las Moras BMW M235i Racing Cup of Lisette Braams, Sandra Van Der Sloot, Gaby Uljee and Maximilian Partl finished 23rd overall and won the CUP1 class.

Two positions behind the Racingdivas BMW was the A2 class winning #117 VDS Racing Adventures Honda Civic Type-R EP3 of José Close, Raphael van der Straten, Gregory Paisse and Michaël Divoy.

In 27th position was the A3T class winning #95 Memac Ogilvy Duel Racing Seat León Supercopa LR of Phil Quaife, Sami Moutran, Nabi Moutran and Ramzi Moutran.

The #91 MARC Cars Australia MARC Focus V8 of Keith Kassuike, Tony Alford, Leehmhuis Australia, Duvashen Padayachee and Tarek Elgammal won the SP2 class, finishing 33rd overall.

Finally, the #75 Hofor Kuepperracing BMW E46 M3 Coupe of Martin Kroll, Chantal Kroll, Sarah Toniutti, Bernd Küpper and American Hal Prewitt won the A5 class, finishing 34th overall.

This year's Dubai 24 Hour featured 12 lead changes with the #12 FACH Auto Tech Porsche of Martin Ragginger, Otto Klohs, Jens Richter and Sven Müller leading 35 laps but finishing 88th overall. The #3 Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon Mercedes of Khaled Al Qubaisi, Bernd Schneider, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Andreas Simonsen led one lap and finished 85th, completing only 88 laps.  The race featured 13 code 60s but zero full course cautions. Three hours, 19 minutes and 15 seconds of the 24 hours were run under code 60 conditions. The 89 starters completed a grand total 39,362 laps.

Black Falcon Mercedes Leads at 12 Hour Mark of Dubai 24 Hour

Having completed 298 laps, the #2 Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 of Hubert Haupt leads overall by two laps over Paul White in KPM Racing's #28 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The #2 Mercedes has lead 244 of 298 laps as the #28 Aston Martin has led 18 laps in the first half of the race. There were 12 lead changes in the first 12 hours.

Patrick Assenheimer is third having completed 295 laps in the #33 SPS Automotive-Performance Mercedes with Matt Griffin the #88 Dragon Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 17.744 seconds back of Assenheimer in fourth position. The #30 Ram Racing Mercedes rounds out the top five, four laps down with Adam Christodoulou behind the wheel.

The #23 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan GTR GT3 is seven laps down with Gaetan Paletou in sixth with Johannes Waimer just over 17 seconds back in the #67 GDL Racing Mercedes. The top 997 class entry is the #26 Black Falcon Porsche 991 Cup of Keita Sawa in eighth position, eight laps down. Two laps back of the Porsche is Stuart Hall in the #69 Gulf Racing Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3. Rounding out the top ten overall is Bernd Kleinbach in the #99 Attempto Racing Porsche 997 GT3 R.

There were a few notable retirements before the first 100 laps had been completed. The #3 Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon Mercedes with 2013 race winners Bernd Schneider, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Khaled Al Quaisi and Andreas Simonsen retired after 88 laps while the defending Dubai 24 Hour winning #1 Stadler Motorsport Porsche was knocked out after 61 laps due to suspension failure.

Class leaders at the halfway mark of the Dubai 24 Hours:

The SP3 class leading #163 Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4 of Bradley Ellis is 25th overall, having completed 267 laps.

Two laps back of the Ginetta, 26th overall is the SP2 class leading # 92 MARC Cars Australia Focus V8 of Tony Karanfilovski.

Sandra Van Der Sloot leads the CUP1 class in the #76 Racingdivas by Las Moras BMW M235i Racing Cup. The BMW is 30th overall, having completed 262 laps.

Two laps behind the CUP1 leading BMW is the A3T class leading #95 Memac Ogilvy Duel Racing Seat León Supercopa LR of Sami Moutran, 32nd overall.

Gregory Paisse is 34th overall in the A2 class leading #117 VDS Racing Honda Civic Type-R EP3 having completed 259 laps.

Chantal Kroll leads the A5 class, 38th overall in the #75 Hofor-Kuepperracing BMW E46 M3 Coupe having completed 257 laps.