Craft-Bamboo locks in Bathurst return

The Hong Kong-based Mercedes squad has signalled its intention to take part in the newly-revived Pro class for the Intercontinental GT Challenge opener.

The driver roster will be unveiled closer to the February 3-5 event.

Craft-Bamboo was the only international crew to take part in last year's Bathurst 12 Hour, which was run to Pro-Am regulations and took place in May, rather than February.

The team missed qualifying due to an engine issue, before executing a curious strategy in the first half of the race to work Maro Engel, Daniel Juncadella and Kevin Tse into contention.

They ended up finishing second to the Triple Eight-run SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes.

That was the best finish in Craft-Bamboo's five Bathurst starts so far, sitting alongside a third in 2015 with Aston Martin and a fifth with Porsche in 2018.

Craft-Bamboo's first Bathurst as a Mercedes team in 2019 ended with a DNF before the team scored another fifth place in 2020.

“The Bathurst 12 Hour has a special place in our hearts, which is why, despite all the challenges in 2022, we made the trip over to compete in this iconic event," said team director Darryl O'Young.

"We have come close so many times, but have yet to take the win here in Bathurst as a team.

"We have worked hard on the preparation for this year’s event, taking all the years of experience here to try and use that to our advantage.

"This year’s race will have a lot of strong competition, so we will have to be sharp to have a chance at the outright victory.”