Unthinkable turnarounds don’t come much better, or more well deserved, than the outstanding GTX class victory taken by Kerong Li, Jean-Francois Brunot and Gregg Gorski during the first ever Hankook 12H Kuwait on Friday at Kuwait Motor Town.
There was a very real risk the Leipert Motorsport trio wouldn’t get to race in the final 24H Series encounter of 2022 after logistical nightmares meant their Lamborghini Huracan wasn’t delivered to the track until 23.30 local time on Thursday, the night before the race.
Meaning the team-mates missed all of testing, practice and qualifying, Li, Brunot and Gorski only had chance to shakedown the car – which was impressively prepared by the Leipert squad through the night – during a specially arranged two-hour run on Friday morning.
Forced, of course, to start the 12-hour race at the back, Gorski took the opening stint of the race and through the various driver cycles during the first half of the contest he, Brunot and Li drove strongly to gradually move through the GTX and overall order.
Into the second half of the race, in hour seven, the squad were second in GTX but this soon became the class lead and during the final few hours under the night skies in Kuwait, Brunot, Li and Gorski didn’t put a wheel wrong – Gorski taking the flag at midnight local time in 10th overall and claiming a superb GTX victory.
The result also secured victory in the GTX ‘Championship of the Continents’, a notable achievement after Li and Brunot also wrapped up the Hankook 24H Series European GTX Championship back in September at the 24H Barcelona. Li ends a highly successful rookie season in the hugely competitive series as GTX Junior Champion and taking second place in the European Junior Championship.
Aside from the outstanding work of the Leipert Motorsport crew this weekend, huge thanks also go to the HRT Performance Porsche squad for facilitating the arrival of the No.710 Lamborghini Huracan late on Thursday night – without their assistance, the victory clearly would not have been possible!
Looking ahead, there really isn’t that long to wait for the start of the 2023 season – the opening race of the year, the Hankook 24H Dubai, will take place from 13-15 January.