Engel: Long-Awaited First Bathurst Win “Makes It Sweeter”

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO

Maro Engel says his long-awaited first Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour victory is an even “sweeter” experience after numerous previous misses in the Australian endurance classic.

The longtime Mercedes-AMG factory driver came out on top alongside co-drivers Maxime Martin and Mikael Grenier in Sunday’s wild Intercontinental GT Challenge season-opener that featured a number of twists and turns.

It included Engel’s No. 888 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo having to start 29th on the 34-car grid due to engine-related issues in qualifying on Saturday, surviving a near-miss with less than four hours to go and benefitting from the top two cars on the race’s final restart colliding while battling for the lead.

The victory came in Engel’s tenth attempt in the Bathurst 12 Hour, dating back to his race debut in 2014, and arguably having been the most accomplished GT3 driver to not have won the Mount Panorama enduro.

“It feels as every bit special as I thought it would,” Engel told Sportscar365. “It’s one that I’ve been chasing for a long time, as everyone knows. I’ve come close many times.

“The way this weekend has gone and the issue we had in qualifying, we had the lead but then dropped it with a wheel gun failure at one of the pit stops.

“I had to pit early on what was eventually my last stint because I was out of drive time.”

Engel, who was due to finish the race, was unable to because of a nearly one-hour red flag stoppage when the then-leading No. 77 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG of Ralf Aron slammed into the spun-out Tsunami RT Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The 40-year-old German, who was at the wheel of the car at the time, narrowly missed the carnage in front of him.

“That red flag situation, my thoughts definitely go out to Ralf; I hope he’s OK and the drivers involved,” said Engel.

“I was pretty much a centimeter away from being the race end for us.”

Martin was instead installed in the No. 888 Mercedes-AMG for the run to the checkered flag because Engel would have exceeded his maximum continuous drive time due to the red flag.

“Maxime was more than capable of doing the job and I can kiss him for it!” said Engel. “It wasn’t the smooth sailing, perfect weekend but it was the end result we all hoped for. It makes it all the more special.”

When asked if he felt they had a chance for the win after Martin lined up third on the final restart, Engel said: “I thought there might be an opportunity.”

He added: “I knew obviously Jules would go for it. I knew Kelvin would try to hang on to the lead.

“Everyone wants to win Bathurst. So I thought this really might be an opportunity for us.

“Obviously I didn’t expect what eventually happened. But it gave us the opportunity for the win.”

The landmark win for the two-time FIA GT World Cup champion, who has titles in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, two Rolex 24 at Daytona class wins as well as being a previous Nürburgring 24 overall winner, victory in the Bathurst 12 Hour was the major enduro that had alluded him.

“I think what makes it sweeter is having waited so long, never having lost faith, always continuously getting back up after disappointments and keep knocking on that door with the belief that it would one day open,” he said.

“Today it has and I think that what really makes it special, having waited so long and never lost faith that it would one day come to us.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John