news: Ambrose entry crashes out of Dubai 24 Hour

Marcos Ambrose has failed to finish the 2010 Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai at the Dubai Autodrome over the weekend after the #148 Ferrari F430 of AF Corse was involved in a heavy crash almost nine hours into the event.

Fellow NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip was behind the wheel of the entry, which was in sixth overall and leading its class at the time, when Waltrip was unable to spinning Seat Leon of Hungarian driver Tamas Horvath.

The impact destroyed the Seat, with Horvath sent to hospital with suspected broken shoulder and collar bone.

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Waltrip was uninjured but the AF Corse Ferrari also retired, classified in 65^th position, having completed 210 laps.

Marcos Ambrose and Michael Waltrip wait their turn during the Dubai 24 Hour

The pace of the Ambrose entry was strong around the 5.39-kilometre Grand Prix layout of the Dubai venue, with the car qualifying in 10^th position for the event, which featured 74 entries.

The crashes Ferrari F430 of AF Corse is retired after Michael Waltrip was involved in heavy contact with another car — The crashed Ferrari F430 of AF Corse is retired after Michael Waltrip was involved in heavy contact with another car

The French Imsa Performance Matmut team of Raymond Narac, Patrick Pilet and Marco Holzer claimed victory, completing 608 laps aboard their Porsche 997 GT3 RSR.

“This is a fantastic win for our team on our first attempt here at Dubai Autodrome,” said Patrick Pilet, who drove the winning car across the finish line.

“We had some anxious moments during the 24 hours but our team dealt with all problems rapidly and efficiently. This was a great team effort from the mechanics right through to the drivers and we are very happy. Dubai is a great place and we will be back.”

Ambrose and Waltrip now return to the United States to resume preparations for the Daytona 500 on February 14.

RESULTS: Top Three
1. Narac/Pilet/Holzer – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR
2. Taniguchi/Yanagida/Hairuman/Stuck/Yoshida – BMW Z4
3. Al Faisal/Hürtgen/Hartung/Al Faisal – BMW Z4

Class winners:
A2 # 89 Team Sally Racing  Renault Clio
A3T # 74 Sunred 1   SEAT Leon Supercopa
A4 # 88 Team Black Falcon 2  BMW Z4 Coupé
A5 # 40 Petronas Synthium Team BMW Z4 Coupé
A6 # 66 IMSA Racing Performance Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
D1 # 112 Marcos Racing International 1 BMW 120D
D2 # 33 BMW Team Hungary with E.D. BMW 120D
SP1 # 168 Bovi Motorsport   Brokernet Silversting
SP2 # 111 Team Black Falcon 1  BMW M3 E92
SP3 # 122 AUH Motorsports 2  Aston Martin Vantage GT4