In a close, last minute battle to the finish, a Saudi Arabian team narrowly missed out on a win at the 2009 Toyo Tires 24 Hours of Dubai.

After a gruelling 24 hours’ racing and 573 laps at the Dubai Autodrome, the Al Faisal Racing team in its BMW Z4 M Coupé (driven by Prince Abdul Aziz Al Faisal, Paul Spooner, Claudia Heurtgen and Stan Sorlie) finished just half-a-lap behind the Land Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car.

The last few hours turned out to be the tensest time for the lead cars. Through most of the early morning and in the final hours, the Al Faisal BMW had seemed to be on track to take the win, but a pit stop relegated the Saudi team to fourth with just a few hours remaining.

When Huertgen took the wheel she was able to catch and overtake two cars. However, Land Motorsport’s Porsche was too far ahead by the end of the race and finished 50sec in front to take the victory. As some consolation, Al Faisal Racing won the A5 class (one class below the winning Porsche) by some 30 laps.

“It was a tough contest, which required a great deal of concentration,” said Prince Abdul Aziz Al Faisal. “We won our class so this was good for the team, but we are a little disappointed as we could have won the race. It wasn’t meant to be.”

During the 24 hours, several cars – including Land Motorsport 1 and ARC Bratislava – shared the lead of the race. But both teams faced problems: an oil fire broke out on the Land Motorsport Porsche, ending its race, and ARC Bratislava Porsche 911 GT3 was heading the race after 20 hours and had to go through a lengthy pit stop to repair a damaged rear.

This year’s varied grid featured 78 cars and eight different classes, with a mix of professionally-run teams and privateers out to prove themselves. Among them was evo’s own Bassam, driving the Aston Martin Vantage for the DXB Racing team. Touted as the underdogs before the race, the team – through efficient pit stops and staying out of trouble – won the SP2 class and in turn beat the Khaleji Motorsport Ferrari 430 GT (also in the SP2 class), whose drivers included ace Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey and Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum. At two in the morning, Newey struck a barrier exiting the fuelling area and damaged the Ferrari’s steering column, ending the team’s hopes of a win.

The fifth edition of the Dubai 24 hour race will be held next year.