Hexis takes tense Abu Dhabi win

Dusseldorp had to withstand pressure from JR Motorsports Nissan driver Richard Westbrook over the final laps to win the championship race on Saturday night. The British driver had overturned a seven-second deficit over the previous nine and a half laps, but was unable to find a way past the the 20-year-old Dutch driver.

The key to the French Hexis team's victory was a super-fast pitstop that vaulted the Aston DBR9 into the lead from fifth place.

Piccione said: "A big thank you to the team; they made this win possible with an amazing pitstop."

Westbrook paid tribute to GT debutant Dusseldorp after the race.

"If I'd had another 20 laps, I wouldn't have got past him," Westbrook said. "He didn't put a foot wrong."

The All-Inkl Lamborghini team scored its first FIA GT1 podium with third place for series debutant Markus Winkelhock and Marc Basseng. Team manager Basseng described the result as "unbelievable" after a torrid weekend during which the German squad suffered two gearbox failures, saw its other car lose pole position for a procedural infringement and had to undertake major repairs after a first-corner accident in the opening race.

Sumo Power Nissan driver Enrique Bernoldi had stormed into the lead from the second row at the start and held off Peter Dumbreck, Westbrook's team-mate, and then Marc VDS Ford driver Maxime Martin until the mandatory pitstops.

The Ford GT and the Nissan, now driven by Frederic Makowiecki and Ricardo Zonta respectively, collided in the pits, ending the victory challenges for both. The Ford was penalised, while the Nissan sustained a puncture.

Championship race - 31 laps:

Pos  Drivers                  Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Piccione/Dusseldorp      Hexis Aston Martin    1h00m02.053s
 2.  Dumbreck/Westbrook       JR Nissan                 + 0.474s
 3.  Winkelhock/Basseng       All-Inkl Lamborghini     + 14.539s
 4.  Hohenadel/Piccini        Hexis Aston Martin       + 15.296s
 5.  Mucke/Turner             Young Driver Aston       + 15.934s
 6.  Muller/Enge              Young Driver Aston       + 16.713s
 7.  Wendlinger/Kox           Swiss Lamborghini        + 17.277s
 8.  Martin/Makowiecki        Marc VDS Ford            + 22.053s
 9.  Brabham/Campbell-Walter  Sumo Power Nissan        + 32.952s
10.  Hezemans/Catsburg        Exim Corvette            + 39.805s
11.  Pastorelli/Schwager      All-Inkl Lamborghini     + 46.478s
12.  Matzke/Pavlovic          Belgian Ford           + 1m23.319s
13.  Rossi/Camara             DKR Corvette           + 1m38.366s
14.  Luhr/Krumm               JR Nissan                  + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Nilsson/Janak            Swiss Lamborghini          24 laps
     Bernoldi/Zonta           Sumo PowerNissan           21 laps
     Leclerc/Giroix           Belgian Ford               16 laps
     Hennerici/Leinders       Marc VDS Ford               0 laps