Ben Barker got his 2020 campaign off to the perfect start by helping the Black Falcon Racing team to victory in the 15th Hankook Dubai 24 Hours.
Seizing the opportunity to contest an unfamiliar event in an unfamiliar car with an unfamiliar team, Porsche specialist Barker partnered Black Falcon regulars Hubert Haupt, Khaled Al Qubaisi and Jeroen Bleekemolen, as well as race veteran Manuel Metzger, behind the wheel of the team’s #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the traditional endurance season-opener, but his participation proved to be anything but conventional.
Having spent the early part of the winter in warm-weather training in Australia, the Briton arrived in the UAE with a fever, which caused him to miss the opening day of testing, and vital seat time that could have been put to use learning both the car and circuit. Twenty-fours of recuperation, however, was enough to see Barker in the cockpit the following day, and he made short work of getting used to the Dubai Autorome, posting twelve laps with increasingly fast times.
“Arriving from Sydney under the weather was far from ideal,” Barker admitted, “and it was annoying to have to wait an extra day to get into the car. Fortunately, despite the obvious differences to the Porsche, it proved fairly straightforward to drive and, once I realised that I was over-driving it initially, my lap times began to come down.”
As a four-time winner of the Dubai event, Black Falcon was clearly one of the teams to beat, and looked to have positioned itself handily when Bleekemolen posted the second-fastest time in qualifying. However, instead of lining up on the front row, the German-based outfit found itself relegated to the inside of row three after a rules transgression in practice.
Having proven his pace in qualifying, Bleekemolen was also behind the wheel when the race got underway at 3pm local time, moving up a couple of spots during his stint before handing over to Metzger with the scarlet Mercedes in a podium position. The German then put in a solid drive as various strategies unfolded around him, keeping the #4 machine in the leading quartet as he passed the baton to sportscar veteran Haupt. The first portents of what was to come appeared during Haupt’s stint, as drizzle began to make track conditions tricky, although not enough for the team to consider switching the Mercedes from slick tyres.
By the time Cambridge native Barker was due to take his turn behind the wheel, however, the rain had intensified, forcing Black Falcon – and its rivals – to reconsider that decision. Instead of being sent out on slicks, the Briton was instead fettled with a set of grooved wet-weather tyres and had his fuel tank filled to the brim as the team prepared for a long run. While the leading runners jostled for position on strategy, Barker was able to settle into a rhythm in the cockpit as the #4 moved back into podium contention. With his pursuers changing through his stint, Barker then found himself with a 25-second buffer back to the WRT Audi of Dries Vanthoor, the pair exchanging lap times in the dark as they battled both each other and the conditions.
Even as WRT made a driver change, Barker continued to press on, extending his advantage before pitting under a Code 60 caution for his tyres to be repressured. Remaining in the cockpit, the FIA World Endurance Championship regular rejoined for a second successive stint, immediately turning in a series of comparatively quick laps as Black Falcon’s advantage grew to more than a minute. The weather, however, continued to worsen and, with the circuit beginning to flood in certain sections, keeping the car on the tarmac quickly became the focus for all.
“It was like a monsoon for the final five laps of my second stint,” Barker commented after spending a couple of hours behind the wheel, “It got to the point where doing anything more than 40km/h meant we’d be aquaplaning, but they just kept things under control with a series of Code 60 periods. We had nothing to lose by making a driver change under the caution but, unfortunately for Khaled, there were only five more laps before the red flag appeared.”
With the steady rain refusing to abate, the organisers continued to delay announcements regarding a possible restart, but an overnight downpour ultimately left them with little choice as the pit garages began to flood and the circuit’s power supply eventually gave up the ghost.
“It was a shame that they had to abandon the event with only seven hours in the books, and it would have undoubtedly been fun to have continued racing, but there was no other option given the worsening conditions,” Barker acknowledged, “At the end of the day, a win is a win, and it was great to show what I could do at the wheel of an unfamiliar car, especially as my stint proved vital in securing first place. Without the extra gap I was able to pull out, there’s a chance second place would have caught us when I handed over to Khaled, so it was a great call by the team too.
“I really enjoyed driving the Mercedes. It’s a both comfortable and predictable – a bit like driving your nan’s armchair around the living room – and it’s always good to get that experience when the opportunity presents itself. Hopefully, there will be more in future.
“It was great to have on-track support from my long-time sponsor Sacred Coffee and, thanks to Black Falcon Racing and CARS Middle East, this has been a great start to the year. I’m now looking forward to reuniting with Grove Racing and bringing them another title at the Bathurst 12 Hours.”
