SunEnergy1 Racing has recruited Mercedes-AMG works GT drivers Jules Gounon, Maro Engel, and Luca Stolz to join owner/driver Kenny Habul at the upcoming Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in January and drive the #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GTD Pro.
Gounon and Engel return to the race as the defending GTD Pro class winners, taking the victory at Daytona for the WeatherTech Racing team alongside Daniel Juncadella and the now-retired Cooper MacNeil.
“Andorra’s Number One” proved to be a master of endurance in 2023: In addition to winning the Michelin Endurance Cup with Juncadella last season, Gounon also won the SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge Drivers’ Championship and GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. He also won his third consecutive Bathurst 12 Hour race, sharing the honours with Habul, Stolz, and SunEnergy1 Racing in the last two years.
Engel raced three legs of the Michelin Endurance Cup last season, winning Daytona and Petit Le Mans, and finishing third at Sebring with WeatherTech Racing – and was a race winner in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series.
Stolz returns from SunEnergy1’s entry in the GTD class last year at Daytona and won races in four different series with Mercedes-AMG this past season. He and Engel recently won the Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit.
That race also marked Habul’s return to driving after sustaining a back injury in practice for the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, and now back at full health in time for 2024, the Australian driver is ready to challenge the high banks of Daytona once again.
Habul will certainly stand out as a Bronze-graded amateur driver in a category otherwise made up exclusively of professionals, but he will only have to clear a minimum drive time of two hours at Daytona to be classified.
Feature image © Andrew “Skippy” Hall / Dailysportscar
