GruppeM opens IGTC season with Bathurst 12 Hour win

Maro Engel, Mikael Grenier and Maxime Martin put the No. 888 Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo from GruppeM Racing to dominate the Bathurst 12 Hour at the right time, scoring the first win of the 2026 Intercontinental GT Challenge season against strong opposition from Porsche and BMW, and amid incidents that took out important entries and ranged from freak to horrific.
 
Three Mercedes climbed up the mountain side by side to fight for the lead once the green flag was waved, with the Initial D liveried No. 77 GMR Mercedes winning the mad dash up the mountain as Maximilian Götz had the inside line in the three-wide melee.
 
It didn’t take long for the first shenanigans to appear, as the first Safety Car intervention happened before the sunrise, with the No. 64 HRT Ford being hit by a kangaroo on track, totalling the front end of the car. While doing the rescue work of the stricken Mustang GT3, the No. 50 KTM Vantage KTM lost control before the home straight and went straight to the barrier, extending the cleaning work that was already lasting nearly half an hour.
 
The green flag came back in the final quarter of the first hour, with the No. 222 STM Mercedes defending the second place for dear life as the No. 55 Jamec MPC Audi and the No. 46 WRT BMW were piling on the pressure. Things got neutralized for some time as the No. 268 Team BRM Audi crashed at Skyline, and with the pit cycles happening under yellow, the Nos. 46 and 32 WRT BMWs took the top two positions.
 
After another lengthy Safety Car period, the No. 32 WRT BMW suffers a right front puncture, leaving the No. 46 WRT BMW alone in the lead to defend from the approaching No. 2 JMR Corvette, which eventually took the lead from Valentino Rossi as Alexander Sims was clocking fast laps in sequence to get out of the view of the No. 222 STM Mercedes, although Chaz Mostert kept Sims honest. With the pit cycle in the third hour, eventually the No. 46 appeared in the fight again, with the merry-go-round putting the No. 2 back on top once the cycle was done.
 
The cycle was going naturally until the Safety Car was called again as the No. 15 Volante Rosso McLaren snapped after losing control down the mountain, ending in the wall immediately. The field was released near the halfway mark, but with the No. 888 GMR Mercedes in the lead and the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes in the chase, with both defending from the still menacing No. 46 WRT BMW. Another yellow in the mid of the pit strategy cycle in the seventh hour changed the order in favor of the No. 75 while the No. 2 became the chaser, with the No. 95 Optimum McLaren appearing as a surprise contender in third, just ahead of the No. 46 and the No. 888.
 
With seven hours of racing, the No. 268 Team BRM Audi had another crash due to oversteer at the top of the mountain, but with the impact being severely more violent, there would be no chance for another repair, but James Golding left the cockpit on his own power.
 
The field was released again with eight hours of racing and the No. 77 GMR Mercedes leading again, only for the leader at time to meet the No. 79 Tsunami RT Porsche stopped sideways near Forrest’s Elbow, which ended with a violent T-bone impact that destroyed both cars and red flagged the race. Although both drivers left the cars on their own, Ralf Aron left No. 77 visibly in pain. After checks in a nearby hospital and followed by his teammates, Aron had considerable back injury from the crash.
 
After an hour between the red flag and the subsequent Safety Car, the No. 75 was leading the way at the restart with the No. 888 joining it, while the No. 95 was limiting space for the No. 46 in order to keep the third place. With Marvin Kirchhöfer clearly holding Raffaele Marciello, the No. 2 and the No. 911 Absolute Porsche were drawn into the third place battle, along with the No. 32 WRT BMW and the No. 61 EBM Porsche.
 
With just less than 100 minutes to go, Earl Bamber spins due to a bent left rear suspension, staying stopped with the No. 2 on the way down the mountain, and with this, JMR lost their main card in battle for overall victory. It was No. 75 versus No. 888 all over again as the green flag was waved with an hour and a quarter to go, and not engaging into battle was the safest decision possible, as another Safety Car intervention would come early into the final hour, as Jayden Ojeda and Chaz Mostert had problems to leave space for each other, with the No. 6 Tigani Mercedes crushed in the wall and the No. 222 STM Mercedes getting hit by the bouncing Mercedes, ending the race of both cars.
 
Pit stops under yellow threw the No. 75 to fourth while the No. 888 took the lead, being chased by the No. 86 High Class Porsche with the No. 46 WRT BMW having a good look at the situation. Despite the No. 86 being massively comfortable with the top sport in GT3 Bronze, Dorian Boccolacci was the last driver of the car, and with the overall win within grasp, he wouldn’t open way for the GT3 Pro cars behind him. Since the final stops were done, the top 4 remained in a close chase as the No. 888 lost of pursuiters, but not the No. 86. Boccolacci kept the chase, but the No. 888 GMR Mercedes still won it by 1.037 seconds, leaving the No. 86 High Class Porsche with a commanding GT3 Bronze win that could have been more.
 
Bathurst 12 Hour - Race results
 
The No. 45 RAM/GWR Mercedes won the GT3 Pro-Am class, while several laps behind the top contenders, the No. 111 111 Racing IRC GT won the Invitational class, followed by the No. 42 Method McLaren that won the GT4 class.
 
The competition will resume on 16 and 17 May, as the 24 Hours of Nürburgring opens the 48 hour tour in Europe.
 
PHOTO: SRO/Gruppe C Photography