The German had qualified the GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG on pole position in 2023 in a record time of 2:00.8819s, and the car was leading by half a minute, deep into the penultimate hour.
Engel quickly caught back up to Jules Gounon but, with passing nigh on impossible in the Pro class all day, he would unload the Frenchman while trying to make a move at The Chase and copped a drive-through penalty.
The final result was a second podium at Mount Panorama – a third place to go with the second place a year earlier with Craft-Bamboo Racing – and it might have been a third if not for Shane van Gisbergen’s crash in the Scott Taylor Motorsport entry in 2017.
Over the years, both Engel and GruppeM have developed a habit of being right in the hunt only to fall just short, but he is optimistic of standing on the top step of the dais one day – perhaps this weekend with Felipe Fraga and David Reynolds.
“First of all, it’s amazing to be back every year,” the GruppeM spearhead told Speedcafe.
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“Coming here is a privilege and I feel like I’ve always performed well here, obviously, back to the first time I came here in 2014.
“But, it hasn’t come together for a race win, so I don’t know if there’s a particular revenge for last year; I think I would just say, we try and put our best foot forward and hope that it comes together this year.
“I feel like we’ve got a strong crew, great car, great driver line-up with Felipe and Dave, so yeah, try to give ourselves the best chance to have a shot at victory again.
“Obviously, last year, everything was looking good until we had to change the modem, and then the end of the race was what it was like.
“You know, it’s one of those things you can’t really plan but, for sure, I’ll keep on coming back here and try and perform well, and I really believe that one day the win will come.”
Engel has seven Bathurst 12 Hour starts to his name, but eight at Mount Panorama in total thanks to his single Supercars season with Erebus Motorsport during its Mercedes era.
However, it is the nature of the track itself which he thinks is the reason for his speed in Central West New South Wales.
“I’ve always really enjoyed those challenging tracks, like Bathurst, Macau, Nurburgring Nordschleife…” said the 38-year-old.
“Those are definitely tracks where I’ve always felt I’ve performed particularly well, and I just absolutely love this place; the history here, the track the layout, the sensation of the fans…
“It’s always been a very, very special place for me, and hopefully I’ll be able to insert my name into the winner’s list one day.”
Engel was integral in bringing Reynolds, a semi-regular in GT3s in Australia, into the GruppeM line-up this weekend.
“To be honest, I’ve always I’ve always really wanted to share a car with Davey because, first of all, he’s a great driver – always been super-quick – and he’s also obviously a great guy with a great sense of humour,” he explained.
“It’s well-known that some of our drivers, especially with Raffaele [Marciello, now with BMW], have moved on to another manufacturer.
“So, we were talking about who we could bring in for this race, Davey’s name was one right at the top, so I gave him a ring and I’m really happy that Mercedes-AMG sort of made this happen.”
Practice 1 starts this morning at 08:15 local time/AEDT.
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