Bathurst 12 Hour and the Australian debut of the Mercedes-AMG GT4: The twelve-hour IGTC curtain-raiser at Bathurst (31 January - 2 February) will mark a special occasion for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport as, for the first time in the history of the Customer Racing Programme, the Mercedes-AMG GT4 will be competing on the Australian continent. The car entered by Griffith Corporation (#19) will be driven by Mark Griffith (AUS), Dirk Müller (GER) and an interesting newcomer: Harrison Newey (GBR), the son of the highly respected veteran Formula 1 engineer Adrian Newey won the Asian Le Mans Series in the 2017/18 season and, despite his young age, already has a wealth of experience - only last weekend, the 21-year-old won the LMP2 class in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The number 19 Mercedes-AMG GT4 joins the customary top-class Mercedes-AMG Motorsport IGTC line-up in this year’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. There will be no fewer than three teams with extensive factory support fielding the new Mercedes-AMG GT3. The number 888 car of Mercedes-AMG Team Triple Eight Race Engineering will be driven by Jamie Whincup (AUS), Bathurst lap record holder Shane van Gisbergen (NZL) and last year’s IGTC runner-up Maximilian Götz (GER). Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo BLACK FALCON (#77) will be sending a no less distinguished trio out onto the track in the shape of Yelmer Buurman (NED), Maro Engel (GER) and Luca Stolz (GER). The third of the three Mercedes-AMG teams, GruppeM Racing, also have high hopes going into the race on the Mount Panorama circuit. Their number 999 car will be driven by Maximilian Buhk (GER) and Raffaele Marciello (ITA), who finished third and fourth in the drivers’ championship at the end of the last IGTC season, together with Felipe Fraga (BRA).
Also joining the line-up will be three GT3 Customer Racing cars. In the number 46 Black Falcon will be Patrick Assenheimer (GER), Sergey Afanasyev (RUS) and Michele Beretta (ITA) whose main focus will be on the Silver Cup. Going into action for SunEnergy1 Racing (#75) are Dominik Baumann, Martin Konrad (both AUT), David Reynolds (AUS) and 2018 IGTC Bronze Category Champion Kenny Habul (AUS). Meanwhile, Nick Foster, Anton de Pasquale, Sam Shahin and Yasser Shahin (all AUS) in the number 777 car fielded by Triple Eight Race Engineering will be competing in the Pro-Am category. Mercedes-AMG will also provide the official safety car for the endurance event for the sixth year in succession.
The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour starts at 05:45 local time on Sunday 2 February (Saturday, 18:45 GMT) just before sunrise in New South Wales.
