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The 2014 Hankook RCM Cup champion Gábor Tim started the New Year with an extraordinary experience and a huge challenge. His main prize for winning the new Hungarian one-make series was a drive in the 2015 24 Hours of Dubai race. The former ETCC driver has never started a twice around the clock event before let alone a one held in the desert so he travelled to the Middle-East with great excitement.

“Competing in a long race like this with a long night session is a huge challenge. I was a bit nervous before but I knew I can gain very special experiences their” – the Apex Racing driver said.

Gábor Tim entered the race with APO Sport, a small but very enthusiastic and professional British team, and shared the car with two younger and an older English driver. They drove a specially prepared Renault Clio Cup car in the A2 category, which is one of the slowest in Dubai, meaning the drivers had to look in the mirror more often than any others.

"There were an awful lot of car on the track, 95 exactly. The half of that would have been a lot either. But the lights were the worst. Most of the small cars had stronger headlights than the GT-s, and I had to get used to it.”

The race itself was not an easy one for the former category third placed team. Alex Osbourne got a puncture at the start and was forced to the pit after lap1 loosing many positions. Tim got the wheel in the third stint and managed to fight his way from P14 to P10 in the category. His second stint was during the night but before that the APO team was once again struck by misfortune when Osbourne collided with another A2 car. Luckily there was no serious damage on the Clio.

Gábor tried his best in the desert night and run consistently fast laps. When he handed the car to his teammate they were seventh in the category. Although he had his own problems: he also got a puncture at the closing stages of his stint.

Tim’s last run started five hours before the finish; however distances were huge in the category so the only chance to gain positions was a mistake or technical problem of a rival. Moreover, the team has its own problems in the last hours: there were issues with the gearbox and the throttle-wire was torn once. Eventually the Alex Osbourne – Peter Venn – Gábor Tim – James May quartette finished seventh in the A2 category and 45^th overall.

“Despite all our problems I really enjoyed every minute of this race. I had a wonderful time with the team, and I wish to thank my sponsors and the organizer of RCM Cup this opportunity” – Tim concluded.

He can be proud of his achievements being one of the fastest drivers in the team. He was head to head with the more experienced Alex Osbourne as far as fastest laps are concerned. In his very first 24 hours race, in the heat of Dubai where the speed difference between cars is bigger than in most of the other endurance events, it deserves recognition.

“I think in spite of all the problems this was a successful race for us, and Gabi gained invaluable experiences. The whole weekend was just wonderful; I cannot really believe the huge development in this event. To be honest I envied Gábor a bit. APO Sport was a very friendly and professional organization, it was really like a family, and I am proud that we could be part of this family for a few days” – said László Csuti, organizer of RCM Cup, who helped Gábor onsite.

The RCM Cup promoter is now considering the main prize of the 2015 championship. If they choose the Dubai race once again it will be a great temptation for young talents.

RCMCup - András Lantos