Former B12Hr winner among strong line-up in third STM AMG

Scott Taylor Motorsport has revealed a strong Pro-Am line-up featuring former Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour winner Thomas Jaeger and a talented Australian expatriate for this year’s race.

The SunEnergy1-backed Mercedes-AMG of Jaeger, United States-based Australian businessman Kenny Habul, and Tristan Vautier completes STM’s high-profile three-car attack on the 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour.

The Queensland team had already entered into an alliance with Triple Eight Race Engineering to run Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup, and Shane van Gisbergen in a Vodafone car.

It also formed a tie-up with Erebus Motorsport that will see Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winners David Reynolds and Luke Youlden share a Bend Motorsport Park-backed car with Yasser Shahin.

That car and the SunEnergy1 entry makes for a strong two-car campaign in the Pro-Am class alongside the Pro class Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG.

Frenchman Vautier and Habul finished second outright in last year’s Bathurst 12 Hour in the STM-run car they shared with Whincup and Raffaele Marciello.

They went on to win the outright and Bronze Drivers titles respectively in the 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge.

German Jaeger won the Bathurst 12 Hour outright with Erebus Motorsport in a Mercedes-Benz in 2013, and was runner-up with HTP a year later.

“Every year this race goes to a whole new level and 2019 is proving to be the largest yet,” said team principal Scott Taylor.

“There are some formidable entries this year who we respect and are looking forward to challenging on our home soil.

“The guys in the STM workshop have worked hard to rebuild all three cars so as to deliver a package where every component has been fully serviced, re-built or replaced.

“The guys and girls have done an amazing job, no stone has been left unturned – thank you team STM.

“Our combined lead-up, our diligence, the drivers and the proven teams of Triple Eight, Erebus, and STM will deliver three highly competitive entries.

“We all can’t wait to be part of the Bathurst 12 Hour show to the world.”

All told, STM’s nine-driver troupe represents four Bathurst 12 Hour winners and four Bathurst 1000 winners.

Aside from Jaeger, van Gisbergen won the 12 Hour in a McLaren in 2016, while the second of Lowndes’ two wins in Ferraris (2014, 2017) was shared with Whincup.

Lowndes, Whincup, Reynolds, and Youlden also boast a total of 13 Bathurst 1000 wins across nine distinct races.

The 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour takes place on January 31-February 3.

Organisers released the schedule for the event last week, with Thursday devoted to support categories and the first running for the 12 Hour race itself on the Friday morning of February 1.