Former Supercars driver Maro Engel ended his decade-plus long drought at Mount Panorama to guide Team GMR (aka GruppeM) to victory in a chaotic round the clock event.

The racing gods finally smiled on the German ace, who won Australia’s international endurance race at his 10th attempt with the three-pointed star marque. Engel had often seemingly been poised to triumph in the February classic only for something to go amiss.

Maxime Martin, Mikael Grenier and Maro Engel celebrate their hard-fought win.

“I’ve been chasing this one for a very long time. 2014 was my first one,” Engel said. “We came close that year, had a good chance, and ever since have been chasing it but it just didn’t really happen.

“I never stopped believing it would happen.”

A win looked unlikely when engine woes on Saturday saw the car start from the back of the grid. But the red and black car steadily moved forward as other found trouble.

Engel’s Belgium co-driver Maxime Martin crossed the finishline first in the #888 Mercedes-AMG GT at Mount Panorama, with Canadian Mikael Grenier also contributing. The factory-backed Mercedes outfit won the 262-lap marathon by 1.036 seconds from the Team High Class Racing Porsche in second. The latter was driven by driven Dorian Boccolacci, Kerong Li and Anders Fjordbach.

Above: Anders Fjordbach, Kerong Li and Dorian Boccolacci took second place in their Team High Class Racing Porsche (below).
It was all smiles for the WRT BMW M4 #46 team featuring Raffaele Marciello, Valentino Rossi and last year’s winner Augusto Farfus.

Legendary MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi was third in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4, a car the Italian shared with Raffaele Marciello and last year’s winner Augusto Farfus.

Meantime, Ford’s sole entrant provided the 2026 edition its most memorable moment when the Mustang GT3 crashed out soon after the pre-dawn start when it struck a kangaroo. 

Two-time Bathurst 12-hour winner Christropher Mies was able to exit the car but was covered in kangaroo blood as the car sustained extensive damage to its front-left. Mies’s car hit the kangaroo at approximately 250km/h.

The race was also suspended under the red flag for an hour when race leader Ralf Aron’s #77 Mercedes burst into flames following a collision with a lapped Porsche that was stopped on the circuit. Aron suffered two fractures to his back.

The James Golding-driven Audi also exited the race in a ball of fire when it hit the wall mid-race. He was unhurt.

The action-packed 12 Hour was held in front of a record three-day attendance of 55,231 fans.

International teams and drivers now reset to continue a big season of GT3 racing, while local teams turn their attention to the first round of the GT World Challenge Australia series at Phillip Island over 27-29 March.

2026 GT3 events are extensively previewed in the 2026 12 Hour & GT Racing Season preview magazine available from newsagents nationally or get a copy delivered to your door, visit https://www.mymagazines.com.au/australian-muscle-car/item/mount-panorama-12-hour-2026.