The first entry for the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour has been announced, joining to teams from Australia and Europe together for the event.
Famous German-based Porsche team Manthey will join with Australian team EMA Motorsport to commence the 2023 season at Mount Panorama.
The pair join forces under the ‘Manthey EMA’ banner and confirm their entry of a Porsche 991.2 Generation Porsche GT3R in the February 3 to 5 event next year.
After successful events in Europe, the Australian-German effort will be hard to miss as they come together to send the iconic green and yellow ‘Grello’ Porsche 911 GT3 R to the Mountain with a Pro driver effort.
EMA Motorsport celebrated its European debut at this year’s 24-hour race in Spa and most recently contested the eighth round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series with the support of Manthey.
New Zealander Jaxon Evans got behind the wheel of ‘Grello’ at the Nürburgring for the endurance race alongside teammate Thomas Preining back in October.
The two companies are now expanding their collaboration and will jointly field a Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Pro class at the spectacular Mount Panorama Circuit.
The driver lineup will be announced at a later date.
This will be only the second time that the fan favourite ‘Grello’ livery has run in the Southern Hemisphere. The iconic neon green and yellow design was seen previously competing at Mount Panorama with Manthey in 2018, the team finishing sixth.
EMA Motorsport makes a first appearance at the Bathurst 12 Hours with the Porsche 911 GT3 R, having raced at the Mountain as part of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia grid earlier this year.
The race will also be one of the final appearances for the 991.2 iteration of the GT3 R in top-flight competition, ahead of the new 992 generation joining grids from later in 2023.
The team is currently working through the final preparations ahead of the 2023 season-opening event, finalising the details of the Pro line-up.
Further details of the drivers are set to revealed early in the New Year.
“The season opener of the Intercontinental GT Challenge in Bathurst is a special highlight in the racing calendar, and we are looking forward to starting our motorsport year 2023 with this event together with EMA,” said Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing.
“With its hilly sections, the Mount Panorama Circuit is reminiscent of the Nordschleife and places very high demands on both the vehicle and the drivers. This is exactly where we’re experienced from our stints in the Green Hell. And we clearly want to compete for victory in Australia.”
Main image: Supplied | Words: Supplied
