GT: Kessel Ferrari wins Abu Dhabi 12 Hours

Swiss-based Kessel Racing successfully defended its Gulf 12 Hours title at the Yas arina Circuit in Abu Dhabi after Michael Broniszewski, Giacomo Piccini and Davide Rigon finished one minute 15 seconds ahead of local team Dragon Racing in the once-around-the-clock enduro open to GT3 and GT4 racecars.

Starting from pole position, Kessel's No. 11 Ferrari 488 GT3 led from the opening lap and held off strong competition from the two remaining class competitors including GP Extreme's Renault RS01.

"It was a really good event from practice, through qualifying and the race, the car was fantastic," said Rigon. "I enjoyed it; nobody made any mistakes and we brought the car back in perfect condition – which was not easy as there was a lot of traffic on the track and the driving stints were long."

Fourth place went to AF Corse in the 488 GT3 which subsequently gave them the PRO AM class win and completed 300 laps as it took the checkered flag.

Herberth Motorsport had been leading in the GENT class until a technical issue meant the team were forced to stop and allowed the Kessel Ferrari to take the lead with just one hour remaining.

In the GTX class, Scuderia Villorba Corse took the checkers ahead of Dragon Racing and Brookspeed.

This year the event welcomed a new category in the guise of the PROTO class, allowing the Ligier JS P3 to compete at the circuit for the first time. The competitors in this class were spread throughout the 25-strong field and it was Graff who took the win four laps ahead of United Autosports.

"Introducing the PROTO class was a great addition to the Gulf 12 Hours as it enabled more teams to compete in the race but kept the race recognizable in shape and sound," Gulf 12 Hours promoter Andrea Ficarelli said. "This year has been a learning curve for us and we will be looking at making changes to the regulations to allow for closer racing in 2017."