German and fellow Mercedes-AMG GT3 team leader Adam Osieka has been confirmed as the replacement driver for Kenny Habul in the #75 SunEnergy1 entry for this weekend’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
Habul was involved in an accident in pre-qualifying on Thursday for the world-famous endurance classic which destroyed the front of his car and left him in hospital with back injuries.
Once it was confirmed that the car was not repairable, Habul made the call from his local hospital bed to buy a new GT3 from AMG and have it shipped from Germany overnight.
The car underwent several hours of preparation at the Haupt Racing Team (HRT) facility at Drees in Germany, before it was transported another two hours by truck to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit where it had a final shakedown in tonight’s final warm-up.
The car will continue to be prepared overnight, including a full SunEnergy1 wrap, inclusive of Habul’s famous #75.
Ironically, Osieka is the CEO of GetSpeed which will also field outright and Silver Cup Mercedes-AMG GT3 entries from an adjacent garage this weekend.
Originally it was planned for Australian Liam Talbot to take Habul’s seat and, despite being in the air, it was confirmed by stewards that Talbot would not be able to take part in the race unless he could drive at least two sighting laps before the event.
It was touch and go whether Talbot would make the new deadline, so an alternative needed to be found.
Under the rules, Osieka is required to complete at least two hours in the car, for the entry to be eligible for honours in the Pro-Am class.
The car will start the race from pit lane because it did not take part in qualifying yesterday.
“It has been a crazy 24 hours,” said Habul.
“We welcome Adam to the team. I was not expecting to get a bonus driver when we did the deal to buy the car from AMG.
“There have been so many moving parts in pulling this together, but it was important for Chaz, Nicky and Marty that we had a SunEnergy1 entry in this race.
“I could not be more proud of my team, especially Eric and Jono who basically worked through the night and the next day to get us a car ready for the warm-up.
“I am disappointed that things didn’t work out for Liam after he committed to the race.
“The boys have a task ahead of them, but they will be smart and push on with the job.”
Osieka remarked, “Surprise, surprise, you can never plan for what is going to happen in this business.
“Kenny is a bit of a legend for what he has achieved over here and it is an honour for me to be asked to drive with the team.
“I am happy to be in a position to help out.
“I know I have a job to do and hopefully we can get a good result for Kenny and the team.”
Osieka will share the SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 this weekend with Australian Supercars ace Chaz Mostert, recent 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner Nicky Catsburg, and Austrian Bronze driver Martin Konrad.
Mostert said, “It has been quite amazing to be a part of such an incredible team effort bringing all this to life in such a short space of time.
“It is disappointing that we could not get things together with Liam because he would have done a solid job here.
“It has been terrific to see the level of respect Kenny has earned over here and what people have been prepared to do to help him out, including Adam.
“Now we just need to get the job done and bring home a trophy for him.”
The new car was the fastest Pro-Am entry in tonight’s warm-up session thanks to a 2:19.51s lap from Catsburg.
The race starts on Saturday at 16:30 local time/Sunday at 00:30 AEST.
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