A test of endurance awaits racer Josh Caygill as 2014 gets under way.

The 23-year-old from Netherton, who won the ‘Rookie Of The Year’ title in his debut VW Cup season, has been signed up by KPM Racing .

And Caygill’s first assignment with the Buckinghamshire-based team is to drive in the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai race in the United Arab Emirates.

It is KPM team’s debut appearance in the event – which is staged between January  9-11 – and alongside Caygill they have enlisted the talents of British Touring Car Championship driver Tom Onslow-Cole, APR Volkswagen Racing Cup Champion Aaron Mason, MSA endurance racer Paul White and Britcar title-winner Javier Morcillo.

In its ninth year, the 24 Hours of Dubai is the initial race in the ‘24 Hours Series’ and has become an endurance favourite among fans and drivers alike.

The 5.39km Dubai Autodrome offers a combination of high-speed straights and technical corners which, combined with the size of the event’s provisional entry-list of 83 cars and average maximum air temperature of 31° Celsius (88° F), makes it a gruelling challenge.

“The Dubai 24 Hours will be my first endurance race and I am very excited,” said Caygill.

“GT endurance racing is something that I see myself doing in the future, so this is a fantastic opportunity with KPM Racing.

“I train regularly to maintain my fitness, but I’ll be increasing my cardio work in the coming weeks in preparation for my stint in January.”

And Caygill, who started out on two wheels as a British Superbikes road racer before injury brought a halt to that career, is also looking at his competition options for next season.

“I have just been offered the chance to drive in the VW Scirocco Cup in Germany, which is the same competition that Scammonden’s Daniel Lloyd raced in a few years ago.” added Caygill.

KPM Racing waved bon voyage to its precious cargo yesterday as it set sail from Rotterdam bound for the ‘Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai’ in the United Arab Emirates to arrive on Christmas Day.

On board the container is no: 127 on the endurance event’s entry list - KPM Racing’s new purpose built Volkswagen Golf Mk 6 with uprated 2.0 TDI engine that will compete in the D1 (diesel touring cars up to 2000cc) class of the endurance event taking place 9-11th January 2014.

“It will be the first time that KPM has participated in Dubai and we are very much looking forward to the challenge,” says KPM Racing team owner Kevin Poole. “The car has been shaken down around a cold Rockingham and Silverstone for ten hours by Josh, Tom and Aaron with no real issues. The Golf is reliable and competitive, so we will be giving it everything to try to score a good finish. If things go to plan, we will look at contesting a whole season in the international endurance series.”

Tom Onslow-Cole; “I am really looking forward to my first 24 hours event as it is a completely different challenge. I have experience with the KPM Racing team and this type of car, so I know we’ll have the pace. I have wanted to compete in an endurance race for a long time, so I am very much up for the race.”

Aaron Mason; “I am looking forward to it; it should be a good week away! But seriously, the race in Dubai will be a great way to round off a good season for me and we have a fast car to do that in.”

Javier Morcillo; “It is such an honour to go to the race with such good team mates as I will have at KPM Racing and I think that it is a strong team for such a tough race. Overall I believe that we shall be fighting for the class win and I am extremely proud to be part of the challenge.”

Josh Caygill; “The Dubai 24 Hours will be my first endurance race and I am very excited. GT endurance racing is something that I see myself doing in the future, so this is a fantastic opportunity with KPM Racing. I train regularly to maintain my fitness, but I’ll be increasing my cardio work in the coming weeks in preparation for my stint in January.”

Paul White; “I am over the moon, not only to be tackling the Dubai 24 Hours with such a professional team, but also with some excellent mates who just so happen to be very quick indeed!”

KPM will share a pit in Dubai with associated team RAM Racing, which will be running a GT3 Ferrari 458 in the event for the second year.