GT World Cup winners pick up #888 for 12 Hour return

A fifth start in Australia’s International Enduro has been locked in for one of the event’s most successful international contenders – the reigning FIA GT World Cup winners at Macau.

Mercedes-AMG Team GMR will return to the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour in 2025, confirming the entry of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 which will sport the number 888 for the first time.

Entered in the outright class, Team GMR will confirm their drivers closer to the event.

The team claimed the Macau GT World Cup in November this year with Maro Engel driving, while have also tasted success in the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

The Hong Kong based squad has become one of the most consistently successful international teams in Bathurst 12 Hour history. In four prior visits to the Mountain, the team has never qualified lower than third and has crossed the line in the top three on three occasions.

While yet to claim victory, the team has a pair of Allan Simonsen Pole Awards to their credit, first with Raffaele Marciello in 2019 and then again with Maro Engel in 2023.

Engel’s stunning 2:00.8819s lap set in that year’s Pirelli Shootout remains the quickest qualifying lap in 12 Hour history.

The team first entered the race in 2019 with Raffaele Marciello pairing with Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Goetz to lead 34 laps and ultimately finish third. They then returned the following year and for a time had looked to go one position better than their debut.

With Marciello and Buhk joined by Felipe Fraga, their Mercedes-AMG GT3 qualified third and crossed the line second behind the winning Bentley Continental GT3 – only to be penalised post-race for a pit lane infringement during their final pit stop to ultimately end up classified sixth.

The team returned in 2023 with Engel, Marciello and Mikael Grenier leading 144 laps – the most ever by a car that did not claim victory – before going on to finish third once again in the closest top three the race has ever seen.

A mechanical issue with a Balance of Performance-related data logger in the team’s AMG GT3 saw them forced to complete a late, unscheduled pitstop before to an on-track clash as Engel battled with ultimate winner Jules Gounon for the lead also cost them time.

However, their remarkable comeback saw Engel haul in the leaders, crossing the line third just 1.4 seconds behind the winning Mercedes-AMG.

The team was fast again in 2024, Engel qualifying the car third behind Broc Feeney and polesitter Sheldon van der Linde.

He, Felipe Fraga and Supercars ace David Reynolds then finished eighth, the last car on the lead lap of the race, however ran in the top three for much of the first half of the 12 Hour encounter.

Founded in the early 2000s, Mercedes-AMG Team GMR has achieved much in its long history including becoming the first Asian outfit to become an official Mercedes-AMG Performance team.

The team has claimed the Suzuka 10 Hours and the FIA GT3 World Cup at Macau on two occasions, while also adding victory in the 2023 Gulf 12 Hours to their roster of success two years ago.

The Repco Bathurst 12 Hour is proudly supported by the NSW Government via its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.

Tickets, Camping and Corporate Hospitality are on sale now, with information via the Bathurst 12 Hour website; www.bathurst12hour.com.au.