Isaac Tutumlu and the Barzani Racing Team, finishing second in the A6-Am class of the 24 hours of Dubai where the Rhino´s Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3 performed extremely well.
Isaac Tutumlu finished 8th overall, another outstanding result built on a superb performance coming from Tutumlu at night, as the Spanish driver of Kurdish roots drove faultlessly teamed with Oliver Webb, Jeroen Mul, Jan Stovicek and Yoshiharu Mori.
The weekend did not look promising as the team suffered an engine failure in testing. However Tutumlu stormed to pole position in qualifying, setting a lap of 2:05.006 in A6-Am class (Tutumlu couldn't go faster than 2:05 orhis team would have been classified as a Pro team.)
In the race the Lamborghini Gallardo was in the top-six, and from the halfway point they did set themselves up as potential winners. At the finish Tutumlu carried out an exceptional stint, passing two cars and gaining back thirty seconds on the leader. Finally, just a few seconds prevent Tutumlu from winning.“I'm delighted to be here this weekend. Our start was not that positive when our new engine experienced problems in the private test, but fortunately we had an exchange engine. Three engineers from Lamborghini and our team worked hard to solve it and our work proved to be effective. We already knew Dubai was a very difficult race, so our second place in class and 8th overall, taking into consideration there were more than 80 cars on the grid, is an amazing result”, Tutumlu explained.
"My previous experience was 24 hours of Barcelona some years ago. But this was much more demanding. I drove over eight hours, sleepless, and mostly at night. My last stint was quite good, passing two cars and just the need to save fuel prevented me to catch the leader. But anyway it was a great race and to be on the podium with my Kurdish flag was a memorable moment. My pole position was remarkable as well. All my thanks go to Barzani family, Kurdistan and my sponsors. Now I´m looking forward to Daytona, for sure it will be another milestone moment of the season with plenty of excitement. This race will be a bigger challenge, as the PC car is more physically demanding”.
