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Gentleman racer Adrian Deitz will be partnered by Tony D’Alberto, Grant Denyer, and David Wall in this year’s Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
The quartet will drive Deitz’ Lamborghini Huracan, which will once again be prepared and run by the latter’s Wall Racing team.
Deitz/D’Alberto is a regular pairing in Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS, including in the first round of the season at Phillip Island earlier this month.
Wall, however, has also driven the Lamborghini in question, in last year’s first Bathurst round of GT World Challenge.
It was D’Alberto who announced the Bathurst 12 Hour entry on the Parked Up podcast of which he is a co-host.
“I can’t wait to get back to the mountain with Adrian, David and Grant,” said the Dick Johnson Racing Supercars co-driver.
“It’s a great crew, an awesome car at one of our best events.
“I had the chance to race with Adrian at Phillip Island recently, so I feel like we are pretty well placed.
“It’s really cool to team up with Grant again. We have had a lot of success together in a range of different cars. He is a bit of a lucky charm for me, so hopefully that comes true again.
“We know that ‘Wallie’ will do the job in the car, and Wall Racing will, no doubt, put everything into it to keep us up the front.
“Any time you get to race at Bathurst is great, but to be able to do it with Adrian and the crew that he has put together is going to be a real highlight of 2022.”
Denyer is yet to drive the Deitz Lamborghini, but has multiple Bathurst 12 Hour starts in GT3 vehicles, and a podium from the race’s production car era.
“I haven’t driven this Lambo, but I have driven a couple before, and they are really good fun,” the Super2 race winner told Parked Up.
“To line up with this good bunch of blokes, and great speed across all the drivers as well. Let’s not forget, this is a Pro-Am race; I think we tick the boxes pretty well.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun, but we know what this race is like. I had three years in a row when I was about to jump in the car and the car never came back.
“I had to wait four years to finish the race, but that is just this race.”
Wall remarked, “Firstly, a massive thank you to Adrian for the invite. I’ve done some driving with him on test days and I know the car as much as anyone else.
“I got the invite to do the 4 Hour at Eastern Creek recently, and we also did the Bathurst Easter GT World Challenge round last year, so to get the call up for the 12 Hour with Adrian, Tony, and Grant is something I’m really thankful for.
“It’s a great driver line-up too – we have two normal sized people and two little people!
“Adrian really wants to do well. He is a very competitive individual and, while he continues to get better, he is also very hard on himself; sometimes too hard.
“For someone who does this as an amateur driver, he does a ripper job, and he also has recent experience at Bathurst.
“I feel like we have as good a chance as anyone else. The car is sorted, BOP will play its part, but we’ll just do our own thing and see where we are after the 12 hours.”
Deitz is “thrilled” at the driving crew he has pulled together for the event.
“We’re back again for another crack at the 12 Hour and it has been a long time coming, but we can’t wait,” he said.
“I’m thrilled with the driver line-up and I feel like it’s going to give us a great chance in the race.
“Obviously Tony’s credentials speak for themselves. We want Tony in the team for the same reasons as Dick Johnson Racing wants him in their team for the Bathurst 1000.
“It’s great to have David in the driver’s seat too. His speed and consistency is undeniable.
“He is a Carrera Cup champion and he will be quick and will bring it home; a thorough professional from start to finish.
“Both David and Tony are at the point of their career where they don’t need to prove anything and that is perfect for a race like the Bathurst 12 Hour.
“And I’m thrilled to get Grant in the car. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t watch too much TV, and when Grant was rising up as a TV star, I was living overseas, so for me, he has always been a race driver first and media personality number two.
“Tony and I had the privilege of driving together for Maranello Motorsport in 2015 and his speed is unquestioned, and you only need to look at what he did in the first stint in the Mustang at the Bathurst 6 Hour last year.
“He did a fantastic job and we know that he is going to put all of his energy into doing the job for us at the 12 Hour too.
“Between us all, we have great team chemistry and, while Bathurst will ultimately decide who is going to win it, hopefully we can be in a competitive position to race hard from the final stop at the end of the day.”
The 2022 Bathurst 12 Hour takes place on May 13-15.
