The 12 Hours of the Gulf have always functioned as an independent test. However, in its 2022 edition they will be the final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge thanks to the agreement between the local promoter -Driving Force Events- and the promoter of the event -SRO-. Despite this new status, the 12 Hours of the Gulf will continue to be organized directly by Driving Force Events and the goal is that the event that takes place on the weekend of December 11 at the Yas Marina circuit keep the essence of previous editions.
andrea ficarellias director of the 12 Hours of the Gulf, has been very clear when defining the existing objectives: «The event will remain basically the same and will be led by our team. SRO will have its own race director, but it will be someone who has also worked with us in the past, so it’s not a big change. The ultimate goal is for the event to maintain the essence that has defined it in recent years and that there is no radical change in its composition ».
However, the local promoter is open to making some concessions, making use of the vast experience of SRO Motorsports: «The verification side will be handled by the folks at SRO Motorsports. because they are great specialists in this area. Apart from this, we really have 100% open conversations for the event. The main change is that we are going to introduce a Pro class, but we all hope to have strong Pro-Am and Am classes.because they are the essence of the test and they are really important for us».
One of the problems arising from the inclusion of the 12 Hours of the Gulf in the IGTC calendar may be registration, as Yas Marina has a somewhat limited pit building: «We have a limitation in Abu Dhabi due to the configuration of the pit building and we cannot accept more than 34 cars. Maybe we can try to stretch it a bit with some kind of workaround, but this is the limit due to the need to have more than one refueling platform per garage. It’s something we have to keep in mind.».
An important nuance, since the test is not reserved exclusively for GT3 vehicles as it happens in other IGTC events: «We want to continue giving the opportunity to people and teams with GT4 and Cup vehicles. We want to have an entry list with 20 GT3 vehicles, eight GT4 vehicles and six Porsche 992 Cup. This is our plan, but later we will see how the enrollment applications develop. We do not know how many cars will participate in the IGTC, but we do not want it to be an exclusive competition for GT3 cars to absorb the demand.
Photos: Intercontinental GT Challenge