George King delivered one of the standout performances of his young endurance career at the 2026 Dubai 24 Hours, only for a freak mechanical failure to deny him and Haas RT a potential overall victory.
Switching to yet another new machine — the Audi R8 LMS GT3 — and joining a new team in Haas RT, King linked up with fellow JWR drivers James Winslow, Alex Bukhantsov, Alim Geshev and Damian Ciosek for his fifth appearance at the season-opening endurance.
Despite limited running prior to qualifying, the Briton was immediately on the pace and went on to set the fastest time of the Haas entry in qualifying, securing fifth in class on the grid and underlining the rapid adaptation that has become a hallmark of his sportscar résumé.
“Although I am familiar with the Dubai circuit after racing here many times before, the Audi was another different car to adapt to, so I’m delighted to have been on the pace almost straight away,” King noted. “To post the fastest time for Haas RT in qualifying was a great start to the weekend.”
Winslow took the start and delivered an impressive opening stint of almost two hours, carving through the field before handing over to King, who then produced one of the drives of the race to bring the #2 machine into podium contention.
Rejoining in 16th position overall, King surged through the order to climb to run third outright during a relentless two-hour stint, executing decisive overtakes and capitalising on sharp strategy calls from his engineer. The Haas RT Audi soon assumed control of the race and, for the next eight hours, led overall — stretching an advantage over the WRT BMW entries featuring several factory-backed drivers.
Disaster, however, struck while the pale blue Audi was leading. With Winslow back behind the wheel, 12 laps of strong pace were immediately curtailed when the rear-right wheel worked loose and detached from the car. Winslow was forced to stop on circuit and await recovery, powerless to prevent the #2 losing its advantage.
Although Haas RT worked impressively to return the Audi to the action in short order, a secondary issue with the rear-right brake assembly followed, as the retaining pin for the brake pads — damaged in the earlier incident — failed at Turn 10. Entering the circuit’s heaviest braking zone and with the pedal dropping to the floor, Winslow skilfully avoided four cars before limping back to the pits.
A further 30 minutes was lost replacing brakes and bleeding the system after brake fluid escaped in the failure and, when King strapped in and returned to the track, the team was 20 laps down. Fuelled by the frustration of seeing his previous good work undone by misfortune, the Briton got his head down and was immediately matching the pace of the top five runners — lap-times comparable to factory drivers — as Haas RT began another inspired recovery. Over the remaining 15 hours, the team charged from 40th to 21st overall and fifth in class, regaining two laps on the leaders and overtaking multiple rivals.
“It’s heartbreaking,” King admitted. “We had the pace to win so, for something as small as a wheel coming loose to stop what could have been a career-defining result, it is tough to take. We drove a perfect race otherwise — no contact, no other mechanical issues.
“I’m always thankful to race in such an iconic event, in cars like this and against the level of competition we had. Thank you to Haas RT for having me — and to my co-drivers for trusting me to help them succeed.”
Despite the disappointment, King’s pace at the sharp end of a world-class GT3 field served notice of his growing stature as a 24-hour contender. His full 2026 programme will be revealed in due course.
