Dunlop 24H DUBAI - Top ten for Mika in dramatic Dubai

Jan. 16, 2012 - PRLog -- Following Friday's start, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, the team managed 575 laps of the 5.390 kilometre track in temperatures of well over 30 degrees. Their best time of the race was 2:04:112, 12th fastest of all the 69 competitors.

Vähämäki and teammates, Tobias Neuser (21) and Marcel Leipert (27) of Germany, France's Jean-Marc Merlin (47) and Czech Jan Štovíček (36) suffered a series of unfortunate incidents early into the race, including driveshaft and radio issues, and a one point found themselves in p 36.

The team battled hard, relying on a combination of driver skill and the might of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 to bring themselves back into the competition and achieve their target of a finish inside the top ten.

Following the race, Mika reflected: "Wow, what an experience! Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you to the team for all of their work. To finish ninth is a great reward for all of the effort that has been put in.

"Dealing with unexpected issues is all part of racing and had we not had the minor setbacks, which the team did an amazing job on, who knows how much higher we could have gone?

"We got everything possible out of the car to make up some 27 places against a tough field of competitors and their is a great deal of satisfaction to be gained from that.

"I want to say congratulations too to team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon on their victory.

"Today has been the culmination of a fantastic week for me, the experience has been invaluable and I'm already looking forward to my next race, once I've had a sleep that is!"