Engel ‘Moving Forward’ After Bathurst Disappointment

Photo: Kevin Pecks/SRO

Maro Engel said he’s moved on from the disappointment of not winning the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, with his and GruppeM Racing’s sights set on victory in this weekend’s second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli at Kyalami.

Engel and fellow Mercedes-AMG factory drivers Raffaele Marciello and Mikael Grenier lost out on a likely victory at Mount Panorama after their Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo had a lengthy stop undergoing a data logger change after its original unit malfunctioned late in the running.

It had put the German driver behind the No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes of Jules Gounon, prior to the two colliding while battling for the lead with 50 minutes to go, resulting in a drive-through penalty for Engel.

Three weeks on from Bathurst, Engel told Sportscar365 that he’s entered the Kyalami 9 Hour with a renewed focus.

“Bathurst was disappointing but at the end of the day we tried our best and we move forward because we can’t change what’s in the past,” he said.

“For sure, we had a great car and it was a great weekend in terms of car performance, our performance as drivers. We had something happen that was not within our control.

“We move forward and try to have a good run here this weekend, even though there’s not many cars on the grid, the quality is still high up there.

“There’s some very strong competition, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Engel is again joined by Marciello and Grenier, who both were victorious in last year’s South African enduro, which served as the postponed 2021 IGTC season finale.

Marciello shared top overall honors with Timur Boguslavskiy and Jules Gounon in Akkodis-ASP’s Mercedes, while Grenier was part of SunEnergy1 Racing’s Pro-Am Challenge class-winning squad.

While having taken part in the 2019 Kyalami event, his GruppeM Mercedes retired on the opening lap due to a broken cylinder coil.

“For me personally I’m looking forward to get my first proper laps [of Kyalami] this weekend,” Engel said.

“Lello and Mik have been here and they were both very successful last year, so I’ll be looking to feed off of them a little bit, off their experience.

“They had a strong run here last year and it will be good to have their experience here at this track, and obviously very fresh from last year.”

The No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes is one of only two complete driver lineups that have carried over from Bathurst.

“It’s a strong point being able to slot into this race with the whole team structure, personnel and drivers all having worked together at Bathurst,” Engel said.

“It is an advantage for sure. It’s not often that you get that opportunity in big long-distance endurance races to do that so I think it’s a good thing and a strength.

“Hopefully it will help us.”

While sitting ten points behind SunEnergy1’s Gounon and Kenny Habul as well as Luca Stolz, who has moved into a separate SPS Automotive Performance-run Pro-Am class Mercedes this weekend, Engel is hoping to take as many points as possible.

The 13-car overall grid features five Pro class cars, and only three that are eligible to score IGTC points.

“We obviously take it one race at a time and big endurance races are never very easy to plan them how they go,” Engel said.

“For sure the aim this weekend is to take as many points as possible. If there’s a win on the card, then we try and take it.

“Overall, the big aim is to score as many points as possible and try and give us the best possible chance to keep going for the championship.”

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