Dubai 24: The Winners

First in class A6, first overall: IMSA Performance MATMUT #66 - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 608 laps

First in class A5, second overall: Petronas Syntium Team #40 - BMW Z4 M Coupé - 605 laps

Second in class A5, third overall: Al Faisal Racing #2 - BMW Z4 M Coupé - 603 laps

Highest placing VAG product (not counting the fact VAG now owns Porsche) - 20th overall, first in class A3T: Sunred Seat Leon Super Copa #74 - 546 laps

The Wolfsburg RS 'VW Spirit' Award - Third in class A3T: Tschomia Motorsport VW Golf R-Line #75 - 535(?) Laps

The Wolfsburg RS favorite car (for awesome Harlequin-inspired paint) - Fifth in class A3T: Zengo Dubai Team Motorsport Seat Leon Super Copa #73 - 468 laps

I have to confess. The much maligned G60 engine is actually one of my favorites from VW. It has a certain charm. Is it the unique sound from the blower? The underdog status? The cantankerous reputation? Maybe all of those things, but there's no denying that it does, when shown proper love and affection, have some bite to go with its bark.

There is probably no-one in the world better known for G60 performance than Jeroen Dik at JD Engineering. His Mk1 GTI was, and is, the stuff of legendary status. I'll post on that sometime later on, but the final spec of his car involved a motorsport gearbox, 16v head, custom plenum intake manifold with 8 injectors, and plenty of power. I can't recall what it made in final spec, and perhaps Jeroen himself may know that, but it was at least 360hp or so. The masterpiece:

The engine shown here was available for sale up until a few months ago, and it currently resides in the car featured here, a Seat Ibiza Cupra 16v. The video is a bit shakey (could have used a better mount in the cage), but it sounds awesome, and clearly has some power. My dream project is still a Mk1 G60. One day, one day...

_WRS