The first endurance race of the year took place this past weekend with a six-hour race at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The 6H Abu Dhabi was the first race in the 2026 season for the 24H Series, which features seven races in the Middle East and Europe. Ironically, only two of the races are 24 hours, with the rest consisting of six and 12-hour races.
There were two BMW entries in the 6H Abu Dhabi race, including the #669 M4 GT3 EVO of Team WRT with factory driver Dan Harper along with Parker Thompson and Anthony McIntosh. In the GT4 class, the Cerny Motorsport #445 M4 GT4 EVO was driven by Florian Sternkopf, Ivan Krapivtsev, Joshua Bednarski and Henry Cerny.
Both of the BMW entries performed well in qualifying in their respective classes. The #669 Team WRT M4 GT3 EVO qualified fifth overall, around a half-second behind the pole sitting time of the #81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG. The #445 Cerny Motorsport M4 GT4 EVO qualified on the pole in the GT4 class, which consisted of only four cars. Still, the BMW qualified with a time that was over four seconds faster than their closest competitor.
With 61 cars on the entry spread among several different classes and with drivers of widely varying skill levels, one could expect a race with a lot of caution periods, and in the 6H Abu Dhabi, the amount of caution periods was the determining factor in the race. There were 14 caution periods, including a few in the last hour of the race.
The #669 WRT car was running in the top group of cars for most of the race and was third going into the final hour. Team WRT would probably have won if not for the final two caution periods late in the race, which allowed the leading #10 Porsche to make it the final hour without pitting for fuel. Team WRT ended up second behind the winning #10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche, followed by a Ferrari 296 GT3 in third.
Team WRT drivers Dan Harper (left), Parker Thompson (middle) and Anthony McIntosh celebrate second place.
The Cerny Motorsport #445 M4 GT4 EVO had a dominant run in the GT4 class and won it easily, despite having some penalties and issues with the car that came up during the race.
Cerny Motorsport won the GT4 class with their M4 GT4 EVO.
The next race on the 24H Series calendar is the 24-Hour race at Dubai on January 16th-18th, which is the most important race in the series. Team WRT has two M4 GT3 EVO entries in that race, and there’s another M4 GT3 EVO entered by Paradine Competition. American driver Anthony McIntosh (who drove the WRT car at Abu Dhabi) will pull double-duty, driving BMWs for both WRT and Paradine Competition in Dubai. Abu Dhabi GT4 winners Cerny Motorsport are also on the Dubai entry.
Find out more information about the 24H Dubai race here.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy 24H Series]