Pirelli-shod Porsche wins '24 Hours of Dubai' endurance run

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Pirelli opened its 2009 motorsports season with a decisive win in the “24 Hours of Dubai” endurance race this past weekend at the 5.43-kilometer Dubai Autodrome.

After 24 hours of racing, the Pirelli-equipped Land Motorsport Porsche from Germany brought home the checkered flag almost a minute ahead of the second place finisher in a field of 78 participants.

The victorious Pirelli-sponsored drivers who shared stints behind the wheel were Carsten Tilke, Gabriel Abergel, Andrzej Dzikevic and Niclas Kentenich.

“This is a particularly satisfying way to start the GT season since the Dubai event was the first event for our new range of customer racing tires,” reports Paul Hembery, the company’s motorsports director.

“For 2009 we are offering customers around the world the same range of tires rather than distinguishing between so-called ‘standard’ and ‘development’ tires as many of our competitors still do,” Hembery says. “The level of competitiveness of these new tires is amply demonstrated by this victory.”