Gulf 12 Hours

Gulf 12 Hours
Venue	Yas Marina Circuit
Corporate sponsor	Lenovo
First race	2012
Duration	12 Hours
Most wins (driver)	Davide Rigon (5)
Most wins (team)	Kessel Racing (4); AF Corse (4)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Ferrari (8)

The Gulf 12 Hours is a 12-hour annual GT endurance racing event that usually takes place at the Yas Marina Circuit in the United Arab Emirates during the third Sunday of December, except in 2021 when it was held at the Bahrain International Circuit in January. In 2012 and, for the decennial, in 2022, the race was held twice: in January and December. On 29 July 2022, it was announced that Gulf 12 Hours joined the Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar both in 2022 and 2023.^[1] The race did not return as part of the IGTC calendar in 2024 after the two-year contract was not extended.^[2]

Winners

Bahrain International Circuit hosted 2020 Gulf 12 Hours in January 2021

Yas Marina Circuit layout used from 2013 to 2019

Year	Drivers	Car	Team	Remarks
2012 (Jan)	Marco Cioci Matt Griffin Piergiuseppe Perazzini	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	AF Corse 1	299 Laps. First running of the event.
2012 (Dec)	Gaetano Ardagna Gianmaria Bruni Toni Vilander	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	AF Corse 1	309 Laps.
2013	Bernd Schneider Jeroen Bleekemolen Khaled Al Qubaisi	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3	Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon Racing	308 laps.^[3]
2014	Michele Rugolo Davide Rigon Stephen Wyatt	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	AF Corse	315 laps.^[4]
2015	Michał Broniszewski Davide Rigon Giacomo Piccini	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Kessel Racing	301 laps.^[5]
2016	Michał Broniszewski Davide Rigon Giacomo Piccini	Ferrari 488 GT3	Kessel Racing	300 laps.
2017	Michał Broniszewski Davide Rigon Miguel Molina	Ferrari 488 GT3	Kessel Racing	302 laps completed. Kessel Racing scoring a Hat-trick of wins.
2018	Michał Broniszewski Davide Rigon Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GT3	Kessel Racing	313 laps completed. Kessel Racing scoring its record breaking 4th win in a row.
2019	Christopher Mies Rinat Salikhov Dries Vanthoor	Audi R8 LMS Evo	Attempto Racing	316 laps.
2020	Race moved to 2021 due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
2021	Isa Al-Khalifa Ben Barnicoat Martin Kodrić	McLaren 720S GT3	2 Seas Motorsport	341 laps. This edition was relocated to the Bahrain International Circuit.^[6]
2022 (Jan)	Isa Al-Khalifa Ben Barnicoat Martin Kodrić	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	2 Seas Motorsport	359 laps. New distance record.
2022 (Dec)	Antonio Fuoco James Calado Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	AF Corse - Francorchamps Motors	335 laps.^[7] First Gulf 12 Hours to be a part of the SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge.^[8]
2023	Maro Engel Mikaël Grenier Luca Stolz	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing	348 laps.^[9] Last Gulf 12 Hours to be a part of the SRO IGTC.^[2]
2024	Gilles Magnus Dennis Marschall Bihuang Zhou	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	Saintéloc Racing	353 laps.^[10] The No. 69 Optimum Motorsport McLaren driven by Todd Coleman, Frederik Schandorff and Aaron Telitz crossed the finish line first, but lost victory after receiving two 30 second penalties post-race for speeding in pit lane.^[11]
2025	Mikhail Aleshin Adam Christodoulou Denis Remenyako	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	CapitalRT by Motopark	346 Laps.^[12]

Multiple winners

By driver

Wins	Driver	Years
5	Davide Rigon	2014–2018
4	Michał Broniszewski	2015–2018
2	Giacomo Piccini	2015–2016
	Alessandro Pier Guidi	2018, 2022 (Dec)
	Isa Al-Khalifa	2021, 2022 (Jan)
	Ben Barnicoat	2021, 2022 (Jan)
	Martin Kodrić	2021, 2022 (Jan)

By manufacturer

Wins	Manufacturer	Years
8	Ferrari	2012 (Jan), 2012 (Dec), 2014–2018, 2022 (Dec)
4	Mercedes-AMG	2013, 2022 (Jan), 2023, 2025
2	Audi	2019, 2024

References

↑ "Gulf 12 Hours replaces Kyalami as 2022 IGTC finale". motorsport.com. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
1 2 Kilbey, Stephen (22 August 2023). "Gulf 12 Hours To Stick With Original 2024 Date". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
↑ "Gulf 12 Hours win seals a dream season for Team Abu Dhaby by Black Falcon". www.gulf12hours.com. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
↑ "Victory for AF Corse in 2014 Gulf 12 Hours". www.gulf12hours.com. 13 December 2014. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
↑ "Kessel Racing win the 5th Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit". www.gulf12hours.com. 11 December 2015. Archived from the original on 19 May 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
↑ "Gulf 12 Hours January 2021 Edition relocates to Bahrain". www.gulf12hours.com. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
↑ "IGTC / 12 Ore del Golfo: trionfo Ferrari, Juncadella campione del mondo". FormulaPassion.it (in Italian). 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
↑ "Gulf 12 Hours joins Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli". intercontinentalgtchallenge.com. SRO Motorsports Group. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
↑ "Gulf 12 Hours – Race" (PDF). 10 December 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
↑ "Gulf 12 Hours – Race" (PDF). Endurance-Info. Gulf 12 Hours. 15 December 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
↑ "Saintéloc Audi Wins Gulf 12 Hours After Optimum Penalised Post-Race". Dailysportscar. 15 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
↑ "FINAL Results Gulf 12 Hours 2025 – Race". Motorsport Television Deutschland. 14 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.

External links

Official website

[1] "Gulf 12 Hours replaces Kyalami as 2022 IGTC finale". motorsport.com. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.

[SROContractEnd-2] 1 2 Kilbey, Stephen (22 August 2023). "Gulf 12 Hours To Stick With Original 2024 Date". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 14 December 2024.

[3] "Gulf 12 Hours win seals a dream season for Team Abu Dhaby by Black Falcon". www.gulf12hours.com. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.

[4] "Victory for AF Corse in 2014 Gulf 12 Hours". www.gulf12hours.com. 13 December 2014. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2014.

[5] "Kessel Racing win the 5th Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit". www.gulf12hours.com. 11 December 2015. Archived from the original on 19 May 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2015.

[6] "Gulf 12 Hours January 2021 Edition relocates to Bahrain". www.gulf12hours.com. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

[7] "IGTC / 12 Ore del Golfo: trionfo Ferrari, Juncadella campione del mondo". FormulaPassion.it (in Italian). 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-12-12.

[8] "Gulf 12 Hours joins Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli". intercontinentalgtchallenge.com. SRO Motorsports Group. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.

[9] "Gulf 12 Hours – Race" (PDF). 10 December 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.

[10] "Gulf 12 Hours – Race" (PDF). Endurance-Info. Gulf 12 Hours. 15 December 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.

[11] "Saintéloc Audi Wins Gulf 12 Hours After Optimum Penalised Post-Race". Dailysportscar. 15 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.

[12] "FINAL Results Gulf 12 Hours 2025 – Race". Motorsport Television Deutschland. 14 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.

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Automobile endurance races
24 hours	24 Hours of Le Mans 24 Hours of Daytona Nürburgring 24 Hours Spa 24 Hours Dubai 24 Hour Fuji 24 Hours 24 Hours of Zolder 24 Hours of Barcelona 2CV 24 Hour Race 24H Silverstone Longest Day of Nelson 24 Hours of Chamonix Willhire 24 Hour Bathurst 24 Hour Tokachi 24 Hours 24 Hours of Portimão
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Defunct races are indicated in italics

Intercontinental GT Challenge races (2016–present)
Current (2026)	Bathurst 12 Hour Nürburgring 24 Hours Spa 24 Hours Suzuka 1000 km Indianapolis 8 Hour
Future (2027)	Texas 8 Hour
Former	California 8 Hours Gulf 12 Hours Kyalami 9 Hours Sepang 12 Hours