Dubai, 17th January 2025: Akshay Gupta, the Indian GT racer and tech entrepreneur, achieved a second place finish in the 2025 Dubai 24 Hours race, securing a notable spot in the TCE Class. Competing for AsBest Racing in the Cupra TCR (Car #102), Gupta shared the car with teammates Junichi Umemoto (Japan), Lutz Obermann (Germany), Henrik Sandell (Sweden), and Nadir Zuhour (UAE). Held at the iconic Dubai Autodrome, this 20th edition of the race saw 65 cars and over 300 drivers from six diverse classes, making it a thrilling spectacle for motorsport fans worldwide.
The race was far from smooth sailing, with Gupta joining the event on short notice, having no prior track experience and only 12 laps of practice in the car before the race began. Starting from pole position, the team faced early setbacks, including a pitstop mix-up that cost them the lead. Midway through, Gupta faced a suspension failure, resulting in a 30-minute repair. The struggles continued overnight with a gearbox failure, which cost the team another 2.5 hours in the pitlane. During the final hour of the race, the steering column broke and was fixed in a record time of 20-minute.
Despite these mechanical setbacks, Gupta and his team’s determination shone through. He managed to clock the fastest lap time for his team, recording a remarkable time of 2m15.279. His consistency in lap times, even amidst the intense pressure of the 24-hour race, played a crucial role in keeping the team competitive.
“It was a last minute call to do the race. I got a call from AsBest on Monday night, got my Visa on Thursday night and was on the track Friday morning. I missed all the practice sessions. I barely got 12 laps of practice before the race. This was the first time that I was racing a TCR and first time on the Dubai Autodrome, yet I managed to record the fastest lap for my team, so, I am quite happy with my own performance. The challenges we faced during the race made it really difficult, but there is so much learning from this that I will take into my NLS championship bid and the Nurburgring 24 hours this year. I’m looking forward to racing more in the TCR car and exploring more 24 Hour Series events this year,” said Gupta.
It is worth noting that the TCE Class only had 3 entries in the class, hence, finishing a 24-hour endurance race was more of an achievement than the podium itself.
This finish adds to Gupta’s impressive motorsport career, which includes victories in both the 7th and 8th rounds of the 2024 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) in the VT2-F Class.
