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AMBROSE AND MIEDECKE TO TACKLE BATHURST 6 HOUR IN 2022
February 18, 2022
A RACING relationship will be rekindled when Marcos Ambrose and George Miedecke team up to tackle the 2022 Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour this Easter.
They will join forces to contest the Bathurst 6 Hour Production Car race this April 15-17, driving a brand-new Ford Mustang GT prepared by Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Miedecke raced for Ambrose’s team in the United States, while Ambrose was competing in the top level of NASCAR Racing, for several successful seasons with the two families remaining close since.
Ambrose currently works as GRMs competition director, heading up their young driver program and working with the team’s rising stars across their Supercheap Auto TCR Australia, S5000 and Turtle Wax TransAm stables.
The 2022 Bathurst 6 Hour will represent a one-off racing return for the double Supercars champion, with no plans for future races beyond the Easter long weekend.
Miedecke is a vastly experienced and successful GT and Touring Car racer and this year will race a Chevrolet Camaro in the Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters series, while also heading up the successful Miedecke Motor Group as Dealer Principal.
Sharing a Ford Mustang with Paul Morris and Brodie Kostecki, Miedecke won his class in the 2021 Bathurst 6 Hour, finishing fifth outright and on the lead lap in the process.
The 2022 Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour will represent a competitive, if one-off, racing return for Ambrose, who has not competed since his final Supercars race start and subsequent retirement in 2015.
After famously clinching a pair of Supercars Championship titles with Stone Brothers Racing in 2003 and 2004, Ambrose moved to the United States in 2006 to commence a career in NASCAR racing.
The Tasmanian remains the most successful Australian driver in the top-tier of US Motorsport, winning two NASCAR Cup Series Races – the first Australian to do so – and five NASCAR Xfinity Series races in the sport’s second tier.
He was last weekend inducted into the Tasmanian Motorsport Hall of Fame.
Ambrose and Miedecke will drive a brand-new Ford Mustang built by GRM in the race, in a bid to give Ford their first win in the Easter Enduro for Production-based Road cars.
BMW have dominated the race to date, winning every instalment since it was first held in 2016. The 2021 race was won by Shane van Gisbergen, Rob Rubis and Shane Smollen driving a BMW M4.
The 2022 Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour will be the first major event to be held at Mount Panorama this year, with a massive weekend in store this Easter – the program including a round of Supercheap Auto TCR Australia.
A capacity grid of 70 cars, set to be the largest ever grid to tackle an endurance race at Mount Panorama, will contest the Bathurst 6 Hour itself this year.
The event will be broadcast live, ad-break free and on demand on Stan Sport, while tickets, camping and corporate hospitality spaces remain on sale via the official event website, www.bathurst6hour.com.au
MARCOS AMBROSE
“I go back a long way with the Miedecke family, George came and raced in the (NASCAR) Late Model program with us while I was racing NASCAR, and I know Andrew from way back too,” Ambrose said.
“I was proud to say yes, I’ll come and celebrate the past with them at Bathurst.
“We’ve built this new Mustang and we’re really excited to get it on the track. The 6 Hour will be a fun race to do and to get back behind the wheel will be celebrating not only the car build, but my long relationship with the Miedecke’s.
“George is a fantastic person. He really came close to making it in the ‘states – he’s a pro driver who never quite made that last jump.
“We’re (Garry Rogers Motorsport) part of the car build, I’ve been part of the project throughout the build and hopefully we’re going to be a contender.
“It’s not a comeback – it’s a celebration, to be with George and Andrew and the Miedecke group and I’m looking forward to it.”
GEORGE MIEDECKE
“It’s a long way from crashing on Marcos’ couch in America to where we are today,” Miedecke said.
“He and I go back a long way and racing for him in the US was an incredible part of my career.
“We established a team and in the first year took out the pole position award, highest ever international driver in the series and Rookie of the year. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go on with it then, so this is a continuation of that effort – it’s great to be able to do it.
“We’re both incredibly competitive people so we’re not going there to do half the job – we both want to have a proper go at winning and I think we have the tools and experience to do that.
“It will be great to share a car, especially a Ford Mustang, with him at Mount Panorama.
“Garry Rogers Motorsport have built an incredible car and all the makings are there for a really strong weekend this Easter.”