It was a busy weekend for a number of Australians at the Dubai Autodrome in multiple categories.

The headline act, the 24 Hours of Dubai, saw the Grove Racing Team flying the Australian flag and the experienced team impressed, finishing fourth outright after 24 hours of racing.

Australian FIA Motorsport Games representatives Stephen Grove and Brenton Grove were joined in their Porsche 911 GT3 R by Supercars driver Anton De Pasquale, with the trio also enjoying the support of Kiwi star Earl Bamber.

The fourth place finish this year is an improvement on their 2022 outing, where they finished sixth.


“The process is always finishing the race, which was the main goal to do that,” Stephen Grove told Speedcafe.com.

“There was one full course Yellow that really hampered us, we probably would have been on for a better result, but fourth is good.

“It’s a 24-hour with no safety cars, it’s full course yellows so you don’t have the ability to make up time, so really it’s a 24-hour sprint race.

“For Anton to spend so much time in the car and do lap after lap for a long period of time, it will only do his driving a world of good.”

Meanwhile, as part of the event, four Australians competed in the first round of the Formula 4 UAE Championship.

There were a number of mixed results across the three races for the Aussie drivers, with James Wharton securing the weekend’s best result – a podium finish in race one.

Further down the field, James Piszcyk would end the opening race in 16^th, while Jack Beeton, the only Australian rookie, finished 20^th. Noah Lisle would finish Saturday’s sole race in 29^th.

In the second race of the weekend on Sunday, Lisle reversed his fortunes and was the best of the Aussies finishing 12^th, with a train of young Australians further down the field - Wharton ended the outing in 17^th, Beeton 18^th and Piszcyk 19th.

In race three, Wharton narrowly missed out on another podium finishing fourth, while Piszcyk claimed his first points of the year in eighth. Lisle finished the final race in 17^th, while Beeton had a first lap puncture and ended 34^th.

After the opening round, Wharton sits fifth in the Championship standings, Piszcyk 13^th, while Lisle and Beeton are yet to secure points.

The Championship’s second round takes place at Kuwait Motor Town on 27-28 January.