and broke his back<\/a> while Stolz and Engel escaped without a scratch as they threaded the needle.<\/p>\nSpeaking after his breakthrough Bathurst 12 Hour win, Engel recounted the experience from his point of view.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was pretty much a centimetre away from being race end for us,\u201d said Engel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was good there was a red flag situation because I probably needed to go and change the underwear,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was totally unexpected. The yellow flag was very late. No real warning for me and I just tried to avoid the cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest with you, I didn\u2019t think that there was a gap \u2013\u00a0and the gap just appeared in time as I arrived, and I was able to go through the two cars without touching either of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was definitely one of the closest situations I\u2019ve seen or I\u2019ve experienced in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Engel finally triumphed at The Mountain in his 10th attempt at the Bathurst 12 Hour, joining Maxime Martin and Mikael Grenier on the podium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been chasing this one for a very long time,\u201d said Engel.<\/p>\n
\u201c2014 was my first one, we came close that year, we had a good chance, and ever since I\u2019ve been chasing it, but just didn\u2019t really happen. I never stopped believing it would happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill starting from where we started today. We were ready for the fight and we were definitely gonna try everything even if it wasn\u2019t the most likely outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust super happy that it\u2019s finally come to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was against the odds too, after an injector failure meant they had to fight through the field from 29th on the grid.<\/p>\n
It smashed the previous record. Prior to this year\u2019s race, the lowest any team had come from was 11th when M-Sport won with its Bentley Continental in the hands of Jordan Pepper, Jules Gounon, and Maxime Soulet.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he thought the win was achievable from so low on the grid, Engel\u2019s teammate Martin replied, \u201cdefinitely not, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we started the weekend, we were not expecting to be there,\u201d said Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end that\u2019s racing. It has been a great battle. I think it was an intense race for everybody, and I think that\u2019s what we want to see. It\u2019s very nice for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/285241.gif\")
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