The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG of Kenny Habul, Martin Konrad, Luca Stolz and Jules Gounon has taken victory in the Bathurst 12 hour. Gounon managed the final stint, to win by 8.7 seconds at the end of 12 Hours.
“I’m speechless,” said Kenny Habul. “I’ve got half a woody, I’m so excited.
“Thanks to Mercedes AMG, thanks to the Mountain. Thanks to the town of Bathurst for this.”
“I’m so happy for Kenny, Martin, Luca. They drove fantastic today.” said Jules Gounon. “When I was driving, I thought ‘this is a remake of 2020! Please no rain!’”
“Thanks to Mercedes, Sun Energy1, the team, Triple Eight, I’m really happy.”
Second placed were the #91 Craft Bamboo Mercedes team; Maro Engel pushing Gounon all the way to the line, as the top two spent most of the last two hours trading lap times in the 2:03’s. The top 3 was rounded out by the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes, completing a Mercedes AMG podium lock-out.
The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes team took the lead with 3 and a half hours remaining, after a 2-minute stop-and-go penalty for the #74 Audisport Team Valvoline R8, that was leading at the time. The penalty was for exceeding the maximum permitted Am-driver stint; Brad Schumacher spending 8 minutes longer than the 80 minute allowed stint length. The #74 lost a lap due to the penalty and having to complete the last of it’s 120s compulsory stops, and despite incredible pace from Kelvin van der Linde in the last stint, had to settle for fourth place. The #5 Wall Racing Lamborghini Huracan rounded out the top 5, over 5 laps down.
Luca Stolz made the key move of the race, putting the #75 in the best position to take advantage of the penalty for the #74 Audi. Stolz was able to chase down Kevin Tse at the wheel of the Craft Bamboo machine in the last stages of his final stint, throwing an audacious move at Skyline, 10 minutes before the penalty for the #74 was announced.
Jules Gounon went back-to-back at the Mountain, winning last edition in 2020 with the Bentley M-Sport team. He becomes the first driver to win the 12 hour for multiple manufacturers, and the first driver to go back-to-back at The Mountain since 2011/2012. The driver on that occasion? Craft Bamboo team owner Darryl O’Young.
The Am class went the way of the #47 Supabarn Audi of James Koundouris, Peter Stokell, and David Russell, in an incredible turnaround for the team after their rebuild over the weekend. The Audi ran flawlessly all day, finishing 9th overall. C class went to the #222 Scott Taylor Motorsport Porsche of Scott Taylor, Geoff Emery, Alex Davison and Craig Lowndes, who came home in 10th. Unfortunately, no Invitational class cars made the finish, with the last car standing, the #95 MARC Cars Australia MARC II V8, pulling into the pits with engine trouble, just after half distance.
More to come….
