A huge well done to Max Coates, who joined the Ciceley Motorsport team in Dubai for both of their international endurance racing debuts and came away with a double podium! We have continued our relationship with Max, which began February 2017 following his success at the Renault Clio Cup in 2016, to support his debut at the Hankook Dubai 24-hour race. The race is recognised as the start of the motorsport season and is a challenge for car, team and driver.
The team, which Coates has driven to three Renault UK Clio Cup victories, took two Renault Clio’s to the Middle East sporting fuel tank, braking and spot light endurance racing upgrades. Heading the multi-national driver line up in car 164 the North Yorkshire based driver claimed 2nd on the grid in the A2 class, just ahead of the sister car and despite mechanical issues.
The A2 class is designed for smaller engine touring cars. With 96 cars on the entry list in total the grid was split into GT (faster sports cars) and TCE (touring type cars), in which Ciceley was racing against another 34 teams.
Max’s team mates in car 162 took the win, finishing 10th in the TCE class and 50th in the overall results, a staggering achievement.
Max said “We’d have liked to come away with a 1-2 for the team but really, just to finish this race is an achievement. We climbed over 25 spots to 70th overall and were 21st out of 36 TCE cars which, along with the A2 podium is a great result. I have loved the experience and would definitely like to do more of this kind of racing in the future alongside my sprint racing commitments.”
We have been working closely with Coates to support his 2018 racing campaign which will be announced shortly!
Photo credit: Zakir Munawer
