Tsunami RT starts the new year with the 24-hour endurance race in Dubai. We told before about the importance of the goal set by the team – to focus attention and raise funds for the children suffering from cancer.
Although this article is dedicated to the sporting team, we cannot but thank everybody who has responded to our call for help. The flashmob "with a pillow" is picking up its pace in the social media. This is the way the people, who participated in the fund raising to help little kids the Parus Nadezhdy (Sail of Hope) charity fund takes care of, make their photos. Thank you very much, our dear friends!
Despite the most important and main goal we, of course, will compete on the track. So, let us study out together where we will spend the unforgettable sleepless 24 hours.
The autodrome in Dubai is young – it was opened only in 2004, and from 2006 it hosts the same-name 24-hour endurance race. The simple calculation with the help of fingers and toes tells us that we will participate in the 13th edition of the race. By the way, we respect this number a lot: our driver Oleksandr Gaidai was competing under the 13th starting number.
The new Porsche Tsunami RT will have the 37th number this time. The list of participants includes 93 crews.
Let us use a bit more math. The circuit length in Dubai is 5.39 km. The participants will have to work their way through of about 600 laps – 3,200 kilometers! This is, by the way, the distance from Odesa to Dubai on the straight.
Our team will put on the track the newest Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR II with the 4-liter 485 HP engine. This vehicle has the technical characteristics of the SPX class, and will be accompanied with the four 5-liter Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo, Lamera Cup, Porsche 991 Cup MR I and one modified Porsche 991-II.
Our fans already know that the four outstanding drivers will alternate on the vehicle colored for RACEFOR.LIFE initiative:
- the French driver Côme Ledogar (Porsche Carrera Cup Italia Champion as a part of Tsunami RT in individual and team classifications, Blancpain Endurance Cup Champion);
- the Italian driver Alessio Rovera (Porsche Carrera Cup Italia Champion as a part of Tsunami RT in individual and team classifications);
- the Ukrainian driver Oleksandr Gaidai (Porsche Carrera Cup Italia Champion as a part of Tsunami RT in the team classification, Porsche Carrera Cup France Vice-Champion in the Division B);
- the Ukrainian driver Andrii Kruglyk (the multiple champion of Ukraine in the Ukrainian Touring Championship and in motocross races).
Free practices and the qualification are waiting for us on Thursday, January 11 (by the way, one more practice in darkness is scheduled after the qualification). The race itself starts at 2:00 p.m. and ends in 24 hours.
A. Rovera: "I think that our special goal will give an additional impulse to each team member, because now we participate in the race not only for ourselves but also for somebody else, for something beyond the common tasks.
I suppose that sport can give a lot to children in need of help, it can become an important part of this "fight for life" both on our way and on the racing track. This is the thing we can be proud of."
A. Kruglyk: "Races mean life, and everything that happens before and after them is only the anticipation!" Most of us agree with this. However, there comes the moment when you begin to understand that the competition on the track is nothing in comparison to the other fight. I am talking about the most unfair, the most dishonest fight – the fight against cancer! Unfortunately, a lot of people fight against this disease every day, but the most frightening thing is when these people are children!"
O. Gaidai: "It is an event for me to participate in a 24-hour race. The fact that I take part in the initiative of fund raising for the children with oncological diseases is an event with a capital "E". I see the race in a completely different way, and the pressure increases many-fold. These are the moments when you understand that a human life is much more important than everything you do in your life. Anyway, we will try to reach a good result, but maybe the raising of the maximum amount of money will be our main goal. I would be very happy if all the people pay a lot of attention to our initiative that is very important to all of us."
It will be difficult. It will be great. It will be very interesting. See it yourselves on our Facebook page where you can find the most recent news and photos from the track and its itineraries.
We are ready! The endurance race is a race for life! Let's get it started!