In the final endurance race of the year, Brisbane driver Liam Talbot secured victory with Movistar Yamaha Moto GP rider Jorge Lorenzo in the Gulf 12 Hour.
Racing at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi with Kessel Racing in the Ferrari 458 GT3 with fellow Kessel drivers Marco Zanuttini and Jacques Duyver the team were looking for a strong result.
The team got off to a convincing start, until a gearbox failure early in the fifth hour saw the Ferrari being towed back to the pits.
Dropping from 11th outright to 19th at this stage, the team had their work cut out for them. Making up time in the night race, the team edged ahead of their competition in the Gentleman Category to maintain a convincing lead.
With just half an hour left in the race, Lorenzo had an incident on the circuit leaving the team to watch the chequered flag fall from the sideline. However, with the significant lead and the laps in hand over the competition, the LTR team with Kessel Racing still came through with a comfortable win topping off an amazing weekend of racing at a world class facility.
As Talbot’s sixth endurance race and third event with Kessel Racing in 2014, this has capped off a very successful year of endurance competition.
-Liam Talbot (Team Driver LTR) – Racing with Kessel and Lorenzo has been a real privilege, he was seriously quick behind the wheel and I hope that we have the opportunity to race together again soon! After a successful season of endurance racing in Europe, to finish on the podium with Lorenzo was the perfect end to our year.
-David Hardman (Team Director LTR) – This has been another fantastic opportunity offered to team LTR by our partners at Kessel Racing. Although this event is still in its infancy, we can see the potential and will definitely be returning to this world-class track.
