Indian GT racer, Akshay Gupta, secured the 2025 Dubai 24 Hours second-place podium finish in the TCE class, driving for AsBest Racing in the Cupra TCR (Car #102)
The Indian flag flew pretty high at the 2025 Dubai 24 Hours as Indian GT racer, Akshay Gupta, took an impressive second-place podium finish at the gruelling 24-hour endurance race in the TCE class. Competing for AsBest Racing in the Cupra TCR (Car #102), the car was shared with Junichi Umemoto (Japan), Lutz Obermann (Germany), Henrik Sandell (Sweden), and Nadir Zuhour (UAE).
For its 20th edition, the 2025 Dubai 24 Hours had quite a turnout with 65 cars and as many as 300 drivers competing for top honors amongst six classes at the Dubai Autodrome circuit. Sure, the TCE only had three entries, but finishing a gruelling 24-hour race such as this is an important achievement on its own. In fact, for Akshay Gupta, he was almost not a part of this event as he joined on short notice and only managed 12 laps of practice before the real racing action began. Nevertheless, car #102 clinched pole position.
The race was far from straightforward as there was a suspension failure that meant a 30-minute repair job, a gearbox failure that forced them to spend 2.5 hours in the pitlane, a steering column failure, and even a pitstop mix-up which cost them the race lead. Through all of this Akshay Gupta and his team managed to finish the race strong, with Gupta clocking the fastest lap time for his team at 2:15.279.
This second-place finish is another crucial feather in the cap for Akshay Gupta, who has had an impressive 2024 himself that includes wins in the Round 7 and 8 of the 2024 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) in the VT2-F Class. His current aim is to get more track time with the TCR car and explore more 24 Hour Series events in 2025.
