Pole position and second Allan Simonsen Trophy for Maro Engel. Third place for Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing.
Sydney, February 06th 2023 – In the first of the Intercontinental GT Challenge series, the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, not even 1.5 seconds separated the MANN-FILTER Mamba from the podium victory and finally left her the third place.
Fairytale like was the beginning of the 12-hour Bathurst race this year for the MANN-FILTER Mercedes. In the practice and qualifying sessions, Maro Engel (GER) impressed with a new lap record in the Bathurst 12 Hour. In the subsequent Top Ten Shootout, he achieved a new fastest time with the first-ever lap under 2m01s driven at the circuit and secured his second Allan Simonsen Trophy. As a result, Engel put the #999 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing on pole-position for the race which began at 5:45 am the next morning.
In the process, Maro Engel, Raffaele Marciello (SUI) and Mikaël Grenier (CAN) with the MANN-FILTER Mamba in P1 managed to continuously extend their lead over the following race cars. It was the last Pitstop, the last Driver Change where the yellow green GruppeM Racing team was holding a 30-second lead until a faulty modem caused data logging issues in the MANN-FILTER bolide with the #999. The team had to change the modem which brought the rival team enough time to take the lead. After a tremendous catch-up Engel in his last stint clashed into the leading car which cost a drive through penalty and resulted in P3.
The racing on Sunday was world-class and the pictures of sunrise as a backdrop to the Mount Panorama circuit are part of the unique moments that make this circuit one of the most iconic in the world. With 53,446 fans attending this international endurance race, the new record for the first event of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli season has been set.
In 3 weeks, on February 25th, the Intercontinental GT Championship series continues with the South African race in Kyalami and MANN-FILTER will again be part.
