SunEnergy1 Mercedes Claims Bathurst 12 Hour Victory! (Full Report)
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.”
Gounon withstood immense pressure from Maro Engel in the #91 Craft Bamboo Mercedes in the final two hours of the race, which finished second with Daniel Juncedella and Kevin Tse. While the gap at the line was 8 seconds, the battle on the timing sheet was much closer, with Gounon and Engel trading 2:03’s in what Engel called a ‘2 Hour Shootout.’
The podium was completed by the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes. The team was in the mix with three hours left, but a lack of outright pace in the last stages of the race saw the leaders draw away, with van Gisbergen unable to go with the #75 and #91. Triple Eight also ran the #75 Mercedes, taking a double podium, and completing a Mercedes AMG 1-2-3; a result that seemed unlikely at best after every other session was topped by an Audi.
Fourth placed were the #74 Audisport Team Valvoline Audi R8, who were leading with four hours left. Unfortunately, the team picked up a 2 minutes stop-and-hold penalty due to a maximum stint drive time infringement; Brad Schumacher spent 88 minutes in the car in his last stint, exceeding the maximum allowable Bronze-driver stint limit of 80 minutes. The penalty, in combination with the #74’s one remaining 120s timed stop, saw the car drop a lap down, and despite faster pace than the leaders from Kelvin van der Linde including the fastest lap of the race on lap 256, they had to settle for 4th place.
The sister #777 Audisport Team Valvoline car was given a 30 second stop-and-hold penalty for a similar infraction, but by that point were well down the order, and finished in 7th place. The #777 was in the hunt with the leaders at half way, but made an error in strategy, attempting to take one of their timed compulsory pit stops under safety car, but falling off the lead lap in the process. As they had been on the lead lap at the start of the safety car period, they were not permitted to take the wave around, keeping them off the lead lap. A tyre blowout at McPhillamy Park for Ricardo Feller with around 4 hours remaining took them out of the running entirely, with Feller forced to bring the car in to the pits as the tyre carcass wrapped itself around the suspension, losing 4 laps to repairs.
The #6 Wall Racing Lamborghini Huracan rounded out the top 5, over 5 laps down. The Huracan ran faultlessly, and the team kept out of trouble, picking up positions as their competitors ran into issues, finishing a lap ahead of the #9 Hallmarc Audi, who also largely kept their nose clean to take 6th place.
Team BRM and the #17 of Mark Rosser, Nick Percat and Joey Mawson were an early surprise after Mawson put in a stellar first stint to hand the car over in the lead of the race. Unfortunately, an issue with the rain light brought that car into the garage for inspection and repairs, followed by another stint in the garage to fix a long brake pedal delayed the team, which finished in 8th place.
9th overall and the Am Class winner was the #47 Supabarn Audi of James Koundouris, Paul Stokell, and David Russell, completing what was a remarkable weekend for the team. After Theo Koundouris’ crash on Friday, the team shipped a new chassis from their base in Melbourne, which arrived at 6am Saturday morning. An on-site conversion to the Evo II spec took 7 hours, with the car just making it out to ‘shakedown’ in qualifying, but being forced to start from 20th due to the chassis change. The car ran faultlessly on race day, and took home Am-Class honours in a remarkable result for the team.
They were the only Am-Class car to be classified at the finish, with both the #45 RAM Motorsport Mercedes and the #55 Valmont Racing Mercedes running into issues throughout the day.
The #55 Valmont Mercedes suffered front end damage after Marcel Zalloua tagged the wall early in the race, breaking the radiator of the Mercedes. The team worked to repair the car, returning it to the circuit after 3 hours and 12 minutes in the garage. Unfortunately, the car completed insufficient laps to be classified.
RAM Motorsport’s #45 also spent time in the garage repairing the front end, after Mike Sheargold tagged the right-hand side wall on the exit of the Dipper. After repairs, the car was returned to the circuit, before a more significant hit for Sheargold at the top of the Mountain saw the car parked up on the Vista, and out of the race.
The #45 retirement was followed only moments later by a big hit on the wall for the #4 Grove Racing Porsche, who ended up parked at Skyline. TV cameras missed the crash, but did observe Stephen Grove passing the stricken #45 Mercedes, before running slightly wide at McPhillamy, and picking up a piece of debris from Ricardo Feller’s earlier tyre blow out. The Porsche could then be heard on the trackside audio to have a moment of oversteer, before crashing hard into the inside wall before Skyline. It appears the debris caused a puncture to the right rear tyre, which then caused the accident, causing significant damage to the left side of the car. At the time, the Groves were playing catch up, after causing an earlier Safety Car when Brenton Grove ended up bogged in the Hell Corner gravel trap.
Tenth place and winning class C was the #222 Prostate Cancer Association Porsche Cup car of Scott Taylor, Geoff Emery, Alex Davison and Craig Lowndes. An overall top 10 was a great achievement for the team, who were the only classified Class C runner. The #11 Our Kloud UpTo11 Racing Porsche completed insufficient laps, after spending a long period of time in the garage for repairs.
The last classified finisher was the #24 C Tech Laser Audi R8 of Tony Bates, David Reynolds and Cameron Waters. Reynolds was one of the big movers in the first stint, coming up the field from 16th into 7th in the pre-dawn fog. The car was running well in 4th overall when a tyre blowout at Forrest Elbow for Bates just after half distance forced the team to pit to repair damage. The #24 spent the rest of the day circulating, finishing 45 laps down.
A high profile retirement was the pole-sitting #65 CoinSpot Audi R8 of Chaz Mostert, Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross. The car lead the early parts of the race in the hands of Mostert, before being shuffled down the field as safety cars for rain and fog diverged strategies. The car was in the mix throughout the day, until a problem downshifting while braking shut the car off at Hell Corner with Talbot at the wheel. Talbot pulled off on Mountain straight, refired the car, and brought the car into the garage with 7 hours remaining. An 18 minute replacement of the air compressor effectively put that car out of contention, and then a moment for Ross on the exit of McPhillamy, skipping through the gravel and hitting the concrete, put that car out for good.
No Invitational class cars made the finish of the race, with Zane Morse crashing the #52 Wheels/FX Racing PNG MARC II V8 before sunrise at the Metal Grate, Dale Wood in the #50 M-Motorsport KTM X-Bow GT2 tagging the wall at Reid Park two hours in, and the #95 MARC Cars Australia MARC II V8 suffering engine problems, and retiring just after half distance.
Earlier, the race was started under safety car, due to fog reducing visibility on the downhill run through the Esses. Chaz Mostert in the #65 CoinSpot Audi and Kelvin van der Linde in the #74 Audisport Team Valvoline Audi were the early pace setters, before a safety car was called for an incident for the #52 Wheels/FX Racing PNG MARC II V8. Zane Morse tagged the wall at Metal Grate, putting that car out of the race before sunrise.
The conditions over the mountain worsened in the first hour, with fog thickening from the Cutting down to the Chase. After the opening stint, drivers voiced their opinion on the conditions to the host broadcaster.
“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done,” commented Mostert to the host broadcaster.
“It’s about survival,” added Kelvin van der Linde.
The host broadcaster then overheard a conversation between drivers just out of the car. David Reynolds, stepping out of the #24 C Tech Laser Audi asking Mostert and van der Linde “Fun?”, with van der Linde responding “No.”
The fog turned into rain during the second hour, falling at the bottom of the mountain. Brenton Grove in the #4 Grove Porsche was the first in trouble, going off track at Hell Corner and getting beached in the gravel. The resulting Safety Car brought most teams into the lane, with conditions not yet requiring wet tyres. However, conditions deteriorated quickly, catching out Jack Perkins on slick tyres who had just gotten in to the #19 Nineteen Corp Mercedes AMG. While cruising to the back of the safety car train, Perkins hit a puddle at the kink on the Chase, spinning the car into the wall on drivers left in what was reported to be a 40G impact, destroying the car.
Extending the safety car period to recover the #19 Mercedes resulted in the race restarting in soaking conditions at the start of the third hour, with cars spraying rooster tails which hung in the air with no wind to disperse the trails.. Only 4 minutes of running were possible, before the #50 M Motorsport KTM X-Bow, with Dale Wood at the wheel, pulled off at the top of the mountain. The X-Bow had damage to the front left, forcing it out of the race, and another safety car.
The rain eased over the 25 minute caution period, with the field restarted under the control of the #17 Team BRM Audi. Joey Mawson started the race from 18th after the car missed qualifying, and handed the car over to Nick Percat in the lead of the race after a cracking opening stint.
Back to back penalties were given to Kenny Habul in the #75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes, for an identical infringement on two safety car restarts. At the sight of the green flag, Habul passed lower class cars before the control line, earning a drive-through on each occasion. Yasser Shahin in the #777 Audisport Team Valvoline Audi received the same penalty after he passed both the #75 Mercedes and the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering under safety car on Mountain Straight, just after being installed in the car.
Two more Safety Car periods occurred, with fog once again affecting visibility between marshal posts on the back side of the Mountain. Firstly between the Esses and the Dipper, then 20 minutes later the fog descended down to the Chase, halting proceedings for 15 minutes each time. At the end of the fourth hour, the #91 Craft Bamboo Mercedes was in the lead.
Canny strategy from the Craft Bamboo team had moved them from the rear of the grid up to lead the race. The team completed all 9 of their required 120 second pit stops before the end of the fourth hour, pitting under each safety car and then immediately on the restart, staying on the lead lap and playing them into a great position. Am driver Kevin Tse said that the team came up with the strategy on Saturday, while the car was on a hoist at the Bathurst TAFE, undergoing an engine change. This meant that all of their remaining pit stops were as fast as the team were able, allowing the team to maintain track position, gaining around ~40s each time their competitors completed a CPS.
Conditions slowly improved as the race approached half way, with a dry line appearing and the track coming alive in the 6th hour. Markus Winkelhock in the #777 Audisport Team Valvoline Audi and Luca Stolz in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes traded fastest lap times as they chased down the #91 Craft Bamboo Mercedes.
A seventh Safety Car was called just after the half race mark as the #24 C Tech Laser Audi with Tony Bates behind the wheel clattered the wall at the Elbow while running in fourth overall. The car came to rest on the exit of the Elbow, with Mark Rosser in the #17 Team BRM Audi first to arrive on the scene, and only just squeezing through an Audi-sized gap between the stricken #24 and the wall on driver’s right. Bates was able to get the #24 moving again, with a right-rear tyre blowout the cause of the accident.
The safety car restart firmed the top four as the favourites for the race, with the #91 Craft Bamboo Mercedes leading the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes, the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes, and the #74 Audisport Team Valvoline Audi, with the focus on clearing the required hour of Am driver time in the second half of the race. Martin Konrad in the #75 SunEnergy1 and Brad Schumacher in the #74 Audisport Team Valvoline Audi were the first Ams to complete the requirement, allowing Maro Engel in the #91 Craft Bamboo Mercedes and Shane Van Gisbergen in the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes, and Schumacher passing Konrad for 3rd place in the process.
Schumacher and Konrad pit to hand their cars over to Kelvin van der Linde and Luca Stolz respectively, as they set about reeling in Kevin Tse in the #91 Craft Bamboo car, and Prince Jefri Ibrahim in the #888 Triple Eight machine, with rain beginning to fall once again. Van der Linde was on a charge, putting a lap on Prince Ibrahim in a single stint, before a 2 minute penalty for a drive-time infringement for Brad Schumacher, who stayed in the car 8 minutes longer than permitted, was given to the team. This penalty put the #74 Audisport Team Audi a lap down, handing the lead to the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes of Luca Stolz, who had made an audacious move over Skyline to take position from Kevin Tse in the #91 Craft Bamboo Mercedes.
The final Safety Car of the day came out with 3 and a half hours remaining to recover the #45 RAM Motorsports and #4 Grove Racing cars. The #74 Audi seemed to have been given a free kick, as they were eligible for the wave-around back onto the lead lap, but a decision by Race Control to not allow the wave-around due to the wet conditions left the #74 stuck in 4th and a lap down.
The final stanza of the race was a true tug-of-war between Gounon and Engel, with the gap barely changing throughout the entire last 2 hours of the race. The #91 Craft Bamboo crew did gain 8 seconds in the final pit stop with an efficient tyre stop, but after two hours of almost straight 2:03s for both drivers, it was Gounon who took the chequered flag for SunEnergy1.
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 drivers on that occasion? Audi driver Christopher Mies, and current Craft Bamboo team owner Darryl O’Young.
While it wasn’t the action-packed international GT3 extravaganza it has been in recent editions, the 2022 Bathurst 12 Hour was a memorable race for many reasons. The fog, rain, Pro-Am requirements and compulsory pit times all had their part to play in building the tension into the last hour, which allowed two drivers to perform at the best of their talent for the entertainment of the world.
The next round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge is the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps in July, while the Bathurst 12 Hour will return to it’s traditional February date for 2023.
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