Habul, Gounon, Stolz to Defend Bathurst Win With SunEnergy1

Photo: Bathurst 12H

Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon and Luca Stolz will defend their Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour overall victory at the wheel of SunEnergy1 Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

The trio, who teamed with Martin Konrad in last year’s edition, will pilot a brand-new chassis from the German manufacturer that has been airfreighted to the event.

Veteran French outfit Akkodis-ASP, meanwhile, is set to operate the Pro class entry following last year’s run with Triple Eight Race Engineering.

“To return to the Mountain as the defending champion of the 12-hour is something special and an event I am really looking forward to,” said Habul.

“It will be great to be able to defend the title with Jules and Luca who are both looking forward to having another crack at ‘The Mountain.'”

All three drivers are also taking part in this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with Habul and Stolz in SunEnergy1’s GTD class entry and Gounon with GTD Pro outfit WeatherTech Racing.

Stolz was a late addition to SunEnergy1’s Rolex 24 lineup after Will Power was forced to withdraw due to family reasons.

“We are going to have an extremely busy couple of weeks with Daytona and Bathurst, but there is nothing else we’d rather be doing,” said Habul.

“The Bathurst 12-hour is one of the best events in the international calendar and one of the best race tracks in the world.

“I have had very few moments in my racing life that were as special as standing on the top step of the podium there last year.

“I guess you could call Mt. Panorama my ‘home’ track because one of my homes is right on Conrad Straight, which gives me a chance to have a little sleep in.

“We are going to have a busy couple of weeks with the Daytona 24-hour and then jumping on my Global 6000 for Australia that night. It is going to be great.

“We might even need to throw some spares on board.”

Habul had a year to remember in 2022, sealing his third Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli Pro-Am drivers’ championship.

His title-winning campaign consisted of outright victory at Bathurst as well as second-place class finishes in the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa and Indianapolis 8 Hour and a class win in Abu Dhabi.

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