Manthey, EMA Team Up for Bathurst 12H Entry

Experienced Porsche squad Manthey and Australian outfit EMA Motorsport will team up for an entry into the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in February.

The two organizations will enter a single Porsche 911 GT3 R under the Manthey EMA banner for the opening round of the 2023 Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli season.

It is the first official entry for Australia’s international endurance race.

Manthey previously supported EMA Motorsport’s entry into this year’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa with Porsche factory drivers Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Felipe Nasr. The Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD Pro class-winning trio finished 22nd overall.

Drivers for the Bathurst entry are yet to be announced, although all-professional crews are eligible for the race again after this year’s event was limited to Pro-Am.

Manthey is best known for its recently-concluded operation of the Porsche factory GTE-Pro team in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as well as its record haul of seven outright wins at the Nürburgring 24.

EMA, meanwhile, has experience running Porsches in the Carrera Cup Australia single-make series.

“The season opener of the Intercontinental GT Challenge in Bathurst is a special highlight in the racing calendar, and we are looking forward to starting our motorsport year 2023 with this event together with EMA,” said Manthey managing director Nicolas Raeder.

“With its hilly sections, the Mount Panorama Circuit is reminiscent of the Nordschleife and places very high demands on both the vehicle and the drivers.

“This is exactly where we’re experienced from our stints in the Green Hell. And we clearly want to compete for victory in Australia.”

Manthey EMA will run the current 991.2-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R and not the 992-generation machine that is making its global debut next year.

This is because Bathurst is due to take place before next year’s GT3 cars have taken part in SRO Motorsports Group’s Balance of Performance tests for the IGTC and other championships run by the same organization.