Antares Au and Herberth Motorsport teammates Loek Hartog (NLD), Joel Sturm (DEU) and Ralf Bohn (DEU) celebrated a victory in Pro-AM and fifth overall at the Michelin 24H Dubai last Sunday, capping a fruitful preparatory campaign in the UAE.
Au and Hartog have been contesting the 24H Series championship in Malaysia (Sepang) and Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) in the #10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT R (992), ahead of key Asian Le Mans Series races in February. Sunday’s 24H win saw them finish their preparatory campaign as 2026 Michelin 24H Middle East Driver’s Overall Vice-Champions.
This victory is Au’s best finish at the 24H Dubai since first competing at this event in 2017. His previous attempts have come in the AM class with other bronze-rated drivers. This year Au entered in Pro-AM class, supported by Manthey Racing and drivers including former and current ALMS partners Sturm and Hartog. Class rules require half of the 24 hours to be completed by bronze drivers; to that end, the lineup was joined by Herberth regular and three-time Dubai 24 winner Bohn.
Experience and expertise proved essential in a large field of 68 cars, half of which were GT3 entries. Due to series-specific balance of performance, the team had to overcome a significant speed deficit for the Porsche and fueling disadvantage to rival brands. Performance aside, #10 had the misfortune of an engine failure, and also a crash during earlier practice sessions. Nevertheless, the team qualified third in class and P8 overall, and hoped that good execution and flawless running could translate into a spot on the overall podium.
The race started Saturday afternoon. Hartog took the start, and handed Au the car in class-leading position, which was maintained during Au’s double-stint and succeeded by Bohn and Sturm. Despite the performance disadvantage to other brands, #10 managed to remain in the top-3 in Pro-AM and top-10 overall throughout the night. There were minor setbacks along the way: Au got entangled in a 5-car multi-class battle and spun in the twilight hours; Bohn made contact with a Pro-class GT3 and spun at midnight, and the team made a fueling mistake during a chaotic pitstop in the “graveyard” hours before Sunday. Fortunately, the car did not suffer any damage and was able to recover its pace in each case.
The above costed the team approx. 40 seconds in total—a loss that the team managed to overcome through efficient pitwork and consistent pace for the rest of the race. By early morning, #10 had secured a 2-lap lead over the next car (a Pro entry) while leading Pro-Am. Au and his team would ultimately finish as the best-placed Porsche, fifth overall (behind three BMWs and one Mercedes-AMG) and winner of Pro-Am.
“We came to the Dubai 24H with the mindset to do our best ahead of rounds three and four of ALMS. The team really delivered the maximum with our package, and it was a proud moment to be on the top step of the Dubai podium after years of racing this event.
We had hoped for an overall result and a repeat of our happy story from Yas Marina last week, but from the start it was apparent that the performance difference between various brands would be hard to overcome. To be the best-placed Porsche in this gruelling race, and to have done that with a Pro-AM driver lineup where half the race was done between me and another bronze driver, is a strong result given the circumstances.
The important thing is that I drove a lot in the past two weeks and completed the maximum preparation ahead of Asian Le Mans. I am ready to return to Dubai next week to defend our championship title with Manthey.” Antares Au said.
With the Michelin 24H Dubai now complete, Au turns his attention towards rounds three and four of the 2025/2026 Asian Le Mans Series, which will see him return to the Dubai Autodrome in next weeks’ time with Porsche factory team Manthey Racing. To watch these races unfold live, please visit https://live.asianlemansseries.com/en/
