Motopark-run Mercedes-AMG team CapitalRT took the outright win with Denis Remenyako, former IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin, and Adam Christodoulou.

They completed 346 laps of the Abu Dhabi circuit, and finished 1:32.190s ahead of their nearest rivals Al Faisal Al Zubair, Ben Tuck, and Christopher Froggatt for AlManar by Dragon.

The GetSpeed-run Grove Racing trio finished one lap down, and nearly two minutes clear of fourth-placed Optimum Motorsport trio Todd Coleman, Aaron Telitz, and Ben Barnicoat.

“It’s such an unpredictable race,” said Brenton Grove.

“It’s really hard to know [if we would finish on the podium]. If we executed well, it was always going to be an opportunity, and we did.

“The car was flawless, the strategy was great, no issues all day. We got a result that’s really, really fun.”

Tigani Motorsport’s Jayden Ojeda, Brendon Leitch, Sergio Pires, and Marcel Zalloua scored sixth overall and first in Pro-Am, surviving a late scare when the splitter failed in the final hour.

They finished 15.308s ahead of the Enrico Fulgenzi Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Enrico Fulgenzi, Alessandro Giannone, and Andrea Girondi.

“The guys were pretty confident that they had done the best that they could with the situation we were in,” said Leitch.

“Marcel was doing a really, really good job at the end. Incredible laps, considering the condition at the end of the race for us.

“It was just really important that he brought it home. Jayden was just talking to him every lap on the radio, trying to keep him calm and guide him through it all.

“They both did a perfect job. All the guys have done an amazing job this weekend, and Tigani have given us an amazing car. Just unlucky with that failure at the end there.

“Other than that, the car has been a machine all weekend long.”

Ojeda added: “Awesome from the boys to have a solid 12-hour race. Awesome job by the team, all the adversity we faced throughout the race, overcame it and put together a really good race.”

The 12-hour race was split into two segments, with the AlManar by Dragon squad leading with its Ferrari 296 at the eight-hour break.

They ended the first leg 12.931s ahead of Winward Racing’s Rinat Salikhov, Gabrie le Piana, and Marvin Dienst, who went on to finish fifth.

However, the AlManar by Dragon squad suffered two significant setbacks in the final four hours that took them out of the race lead.

The first blow was when they copped a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, and then they were forced to make an unscheduled pit stop to top up the Ferrari 296 brake fluid.

The race-winning CapitalRT by Motopark team survived a bruising race, winning despite damage to the floor of the Mercedes-AMG.

“The last part of the race obviously went perfectly,” said Christodoulou.

“I was going to say, the first part we just stayed out of trouble, but we seemed to get tangled in other people’s mistakes and we got turned around twice.

“In the end, we just kept on pushing. We pitted when we needed to. The strategy was good. The guys did a brilliant job with that, and these guys drove brilliantly as well.

“Just never giving up mentality, this is how we’ve ended up on the podium with the win. The best way to finish a season. Hopefully we can go into the start of next year and do the same.”

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