SunEnergy1 Enlists Factory Drivers for GTD Pro Effort

Jules Gounon, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz will join Kenny Habul in SunEnergy1 Racing’s GTD Pro effort at the Rolex 24 at Daytona next month.

Team owner Habul revealed to Sportscar365 that the three Mercedes-AMG factory driver will join him at the wheel of the No. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to create a four-driver lineup for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener.

“Daytona is myself, Maro, Jules, and Luca, which is really good news for me,” Habul said.

“Very excited about that. [I’m] a little bit worried about the BoP. It [was] really bad at the Daytona test. Hopefully, that changes for us because we would not be competitive that way. But I’ve got the best drivers I wanted.”

Engel and Gounon are both defending GTD Pro winners at Daytona, having taken the class win earlier this year as part of a WeatherTech Racing lineup that also featured Daniel Juncadella and Cooper MacNeil.

Stolz, meanwhile, teamed with Bronze-rated Habul in the GTD class at Daytona earlier this year alongside Fabian Schiller and Axcil Jefferies.

Teams are permitted to field lineups including Bronze-rated drivers in the GTD Pro category, something that Team TGM did this year when it ran Ted Giovanis and Hugh Plumb in TF Sport-run Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

The event will mark Habul’s return to 24-hour racing for the first time since returning to action following his back injury suffered in a crash at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

The U.S.-based Australian notably took an overall race victory at the Bathurst 12 Hour in February, driving a Mercedes-AMG alongside both Stolz and newly crowned Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli drivers’ champion Gounon.

“I’m super happy to go back with Kenny,” Gounon said. “The memory I have with Kenny from Bathurst, the last two years, and Kyalami, and Dubai, it was fantastic.

“Kenny is the best driver I know in the world, especially also for his weight. It’s crazy the lap time he can produce in Daytona or in Bathurst. He’s really impressive. And he has no fear.

“That Kenny chose Maro, Luca, and I for Daytona, I think we have a good lineup for GTD Pro.”