Mercedes-AMG Firms Up Driver Crews for Bathurst 12H

Mercedes-AMG has named its full driver roster for next weekend’s Repco Bathurst 12 Hour, confirming that Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon and Luca Stolz will vie for a third straight victory with SunEnergy1 Racing.

The German manufacturer will be represented by nine Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos in the Intercontinental GT Challenge opener on Feb. 16-18, of which five will compete in the Pro class, as well as a single Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Habul, Gounon and Stolz once again pilot the No. 75 SunEnergy1 car as they aim to win at Bathurst for the third time as a trio, with Gounon aiming for a fourth consecutive triumph including the one he scored as a Bentley driver in 2020.

Craft-Bamboo Racing’s No. 77 car will carry backing from Caltex and will be driven by Maximilian Goetz, Daniel Juncadella and Australian youngster Jayden Ojeda.

Juncadella is free to contest the race for Mercedes-AMG as his new employer Corvette does not have a presence in the field.

GruppeM, meanwhile, is calling on the services of Maro Engel, Felipe Fraga and local hero David Reynolds to share the No. 130 entry.

The remaining two Pro Mercedes-AMG teams, Scott Taylor Motorsport and Triple Eight Race Engineering (entered under the ‘National Storage Racing’ banner), had already confirmed their lineups.

Triple Eight will run a second car in the Pro-Am category for Jamie Whincup, Jordan Love and Prince Jefri Ibrahim, who will go up against fellow Merc squads MMotorsport and Heart of Racing by SPS for class honors.

The ninth and final GT3 entry is for Supabarn Racing in the Silver class, as previously announced, while the sole Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the field is entrusted to Team Nineteen.

Mercedes-AMG head of customer racing Stefan Wendl said: “Because of our wins in the past two cars, we are in the favorites’ role at Bathurst, so to say.

“To live up to the high expectations, we are again relying on our established Performance Teams and a line-up of high-quality drivers and local heroes. In this demanding race, experience is a decisive factor.

“Moreover, it makes us proud that we have the largest contingent of all brands with ten cars in this year’s field of the Bathurst 12 Hour. We are looking forward to the competition and we are optimally prepared for the challenge.”