Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing have released the livery that Maro Engel, Dani Juncadella and Kevin Tse will race this weekend at the 2022 Liquid Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
It will be the first time at Bathurst for both Juncadella and Tse.
This year the Bathurst event will be contested primarily as a Pro-Am event with one FIA bronze graded driver required in each car. Being the first race of the Intercontinental GT Challenge season, the team will put up their best effort to score maximum points for the German manufacturer as an official Mercedes-AMG Performance Team at Mount Panorama. The 6.2km Mount Panorama Circuit is a historic and indelible part of Australian motorsport history. As the name suggests, the track winds up and down a hillside and remains one of the most challenging GT circuits in the world. The circuit presents plenty of overtaking opportunities, set to make it an exciting season opener.
Darryl O’Young, Team Director, Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing: “I’m really pleased to be back at the Bathurst 12 Hour as a Mercedes-AMG Performance team. Our drivers are strong, we have worked many times over the years with Maro and Kevin, and we are very happy to welcome Daniel to the team this year. Bathurst is a very unique circuit, and although it is Kevin and Daniel’s first time on the mountain, they boast years of experience at circuits such as Macau Grand Prix as well as Daniel’s experience at Nurburgring. This is quite important as driving at high speed close to walls is something not so easy to adapt to. I’m also glad to have a great list of partners this year to ensure our team is able to perform at the highest level. Really excited to get the week started.”
Maro Engel: “It’s amazing to finally race at Bathurst again, it’s such an amazing track. Obviously, nearly the last 2 years have gone by without a race there and it has been a long wait. So it is fantastic to get back to Bathurst and to do it with Craft-Bamboo Racing, it’s great. I know the team very well, we had a very strong race together there in 2020, narrowly missing a podium due to a late puncture. We will be looking to make amends and we’ll be as best prepared as possible. So I am looking forward to a strong run and hopefully a strong challenge to try and win the race. It’s a race I haven’t won so far, so it’s definitely one that’s very high up on my bucket list. Let’s see how we go but I am very excited for this challenging race and I know we’ll be strong once the race comes.”
Daniel Juncadella: “This is an amazing event and for me, it’s a proper debut at Bathurst, I have never been there. Although I have done so many laps online, I know the track very well virtually, but I have never physically raced in Bathurst. It is amazing to be a part of this team and this line-up for such an important event for GT3. This will also be my first exp with Craft-Bamboo Racing. We were supposed to race in Kyalami at end of last year, but it couldn’t happen due to the pandemic circumstances. So I am finally getting my proper debut for the team, it should be very fun and I think I am very well prepared for this one as well. Time to enjoy the process and see what comes out of it.”
Kevin Tse: “I am very excited to join Craft-Bamboo Racing for this race in Bathurst. It’s my first time in Bathurst, so to be honest, there is a lot of pressure, especially since I am in a very competitive car with Maro and Dani. They are the superstar AMG Pro drivers, so I am really looking forward to driving with them and learning from them. I haven’t been to Bathurst, but I hope that since I am a Macau driver, been racing in Macau for the last 13-14 years in the Guia Street Circuit, that experience will hopefully would me in Bathurst. Right now I am doing a few rounds in the British GT and also in the AMG, so hopefully, I will be warmed up for Mount Panorama. This year is a little different since there is no Pro Class, all the cars are Pro-Am. So we have a good chance to maybe win the race but I am not going to jinx it. It will be interesting and I’m looking forward to it.”
