Eastalent Racing announced today that at the 24 Hours of Dubai, taking place from 26–28 January 2024, none other than the two drivers and team champions of the International GT Open 2023 will drive the Audi R8 LMS evo II. With Austrian Simon Reicher and Audi works driver Christopher Haase from Germany, Eastalent Racing is clearly aiming for success. “After I asked Christopher if he would start with us at the 24 Hours of Dubai and he responded enthusiastically, we immediately started planning,” says team manager Peter Reicher.

As the final of the International GT Open took place last weekend, 20 to 22 October, in Barcelona, Spain, the full score was the goal for Eastalent Racing and team manager Peter Reicher—especially because the team had to cope with two zero-point rounds at the Hungaroring and at Paul Ricard earlier in the season. “If we want to have a say as third place in the championship in the title fight, we have to bring the maximum score to our account,” says Reicher.

Also joining the squad is Mike Zhou, champion of the 2019 China GT GTC class. “We are delighted with the international interest in our team. With Mike’s experience, we are aiming for a podium finish. The Chinese driver is one of the most experienced GT drivers. His résumé includes the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and recent GT3 entries in this year’s Asian Le Mans Series,” says Peter Reicher.

The team manager is particularly pleased about the addition of a second Audi Sport driver, Markus Winkelhock from Germany. “It just seemed to fit,” reports Reicher. “With us in the team, it's not only about the will to win—we also place great value on a family-like environment. Everyone who wears our team colours should feel comfortable and share in our endless passion for motorsport. And so it can happen that even highly decorated Audi sport drivers want to get behind the wheel with us.”

Thus, the Eastalent Racing line-up is confirmed for the 24 Hours of Dubai 2024: Christopher Haase, Simon Reicher, Markus Winkelhock, and Mike Zhou will compete in the Pro class. “With such a top-class quartet, there is only one goal for us—a podium finish in the overall classification. The prerequisite, of course, is that the technology doesn’t let us down for 24 hours. It’s a mammoth task paired with a big dose of luck. Because a lot can happen in 24 hours. We all have a lot of experience with 24-hour races, but not yet as a joint team. So it remains an exciting challenge for all of us,” summarises Peter Reicher in anticipation of the event.

Text: kartpress.de/Michael Schulz
Fots: kartnet.de/Michael Schulz. On the photo: Audi R8 LMS evo II as cargo on the way to Dubai

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