Oryx Racing owner Humaid Al Masaood (UAE) has reluctantly withdrawn his entry for the third round of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.

Oryx Racing Forced To Miss “Grand Prix of Miami” At Homestead  

Al Masaood must now unexpectedly remain in the United Arab Emirates due to unforeseen business commitments during the week of the “Grand Prix of Miami” at the Homestead Miami Speedway (US State of Florida) on April 29.

Al Masaood, who is driving the Audi R8 GRAND-AM along with Steven Kane (GB) in the North American series for the first time, believes it would be of no benefit, at least on this occasion, to retain an entry and run with a “substitute” driver.

Oryx Racing will now actively use the coming weeks to test and further evaluate the R8 Grand-Am with Kane at the helm.   

Tom Maplethorpe (GB), Team Manager:

“Humaid is bitterly disappointed about being unable to race at Homestead next weekend but understandably his business must come first. We believe that there would be no point in going to Homestead with another driver alongside Steven [Kane] for a one-off race – it wouldn’t be fair to that person and we don’t see that it would be of any benefit to the team. We’re planning a number of tests so as to make progress with the development of the Audi R8 Grand-Am.”

Oryx Racing

Oryx Racing is owned by UAE National Humaid Al Masaood and has its headquarters in Abu Dhabi (UAE) with its new for 2012 Grand-Am project based out of Winchester (US State of Virginia). The team’s development has been meteoric since its formation at the end of 2010. Oryx finished second (SP3) on its race début in the 2011 Dubai 24 Hours before contesting the opening two races in the European-based FIA Speed EuroSeries. In 2011, Oryx Dyson Racing finished fourth in the American Le Mans Series’ LMP1 Team Championship – Masaood & Kane fifth in the Drivers’ standings – despite only contesting the final seven races. In 2012, Oryx Racing competes in the GT category of the North America-based 13-race GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.

Audi R8 GRAND-AM

V10 5.2-litre engine, 4 valves per cylinder, petrol direct injection, power 480hp, over 500Nm, emission control by two racing catalytic converters, rear-wheel-drive, sequential pneumatic activated 6-speed sport gearbox with shift-paddles, Audi Space Frame (ASF) made of aluminum with bolted steel roll-cage, carbon-fibre composite/aluminium bodywork, Continental radial tyres. Minimum start weight 1,285kg. Developed by Audi Sport with cooperation from quattro GmbH. The mid-engined Audi R8 LMS recorded 118 race wins and 13 championship titles around the world (2009-11) while 2012 marks the first year the R8 has raced in GRAND-AM or indeed North America.