From 9th to 11th December, the finale of this season’s Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) will feature for the first time on the programme for the Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit. SPS automotive performance will run two Mercedes-AMG GT3s at this prestigious event.
The Gulf 12 Hours is being held for the second time in the 2022 calendar year. When the previous race was held at the start of January, SPS automotive performance lined up with two cars at Yas Marina Circuit. After twelve hours of racing, the team claimed a class victory and finished on the overall podium. The Willsbach-based team will again field two Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the coming race, with the two cars starting in the Pro-Am class. Alternating at the wheel of the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3 will be Valentin Pierburg (GER), Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Martin Berry (AUS). The German/Austrian pairing of Pierburg and Baumann finished runner-up in the Endurance Cup in this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS, and were instrumental in SPS automotive performance claiming the team title in this class. Pierburg also took the class win in the Bronze Cup at this year’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa and won the GT-AM championship in the Asian Le Mans Series. Australian Martin Berry does most of his racing in Asian GT series. In 2022, he has driven a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Japanese Super Taikyu Series. He and his team are top of the table in the GT3 class ahead of the final race of the season.
Kenny Habul (AUS), Martin Konrad (AUT) and Philip Ellis (SUI) will tackle the challenging Yas Marina Circuit in the #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3. Habul and Konrad have already enjoyed success this year with SPS automotive performance. They finished third overall in the 24 Hours of Dubai. The duo also started alongside Philip Ellis and Dominik Baumann in the Pro-Am class at the 24 Hours of Spa. Having started from the pit lane, the team produced a formidable fightback before crossing the finish line in second place in its class. Kenny Habul and his partner Martin Konrad have already been confirmed as Pro-Am champions in the Intercontinental GT Challenge ahead of the finale, but are naturally hungry to crown their strong season with another good result. They will be ably assisted by Mercedes-AMG driver Philip Ellis, whose CV already includes successes in the DTM, at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
The first training sessions for the Gulf 12 Hours are scheduled for Friday 9th December. The finale of this season’s IGTC then gets underway at 07:00 CET on Sunday 11th December.
Stephan Sohn, team principal SPS automotive performance: “We are pleased to have another highlight like the IGTC finale to look forward to after a very good season. This is our second time here this year, which could give us an advantage. It will definitely be an exciting race. If the team performs well, we can certainly put ourselves in contention for the class win.”
