German squad HTP Motorsport will not only support the STM entry – with defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen – in the upcoming Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, the reigning Blancpain GT Series champions will also enter a factory supported car themselves.
Some while ago it was announced that Shane Van Gisbergen, one of the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup driver champions and winner of last year’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, would be part of the Scott Taylor Motorsport’s entry for this year’s edition of the Australian classic, at the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3. With multiple Carrera Cup champion Craig Baird and 2014 Allan Simonsen Pole Award winner Maro Engel as his team-mates, SVG is again one of the favourites for the Bathurst win.
‘The Giz’ and his team-mates will have to deal with some internal competition however, since HTP Motorsport, already supporting the STM entry, will enter their own AMG factory-backed GT3 in the opening round of the 2017 Intercontinental GT Challenge as well. The German outfit finished second in the 2014, just missing out on the win, and now makes its comeback in Bathurst. The drivers of the second car are reported to be Mathias Lauda (son of multiple F1-champion Niki), former F1-driver Pedro Lamy and Canadian Paul Dalla Lana.