RAM Racing returns to the Gulf 12 with another AMG icon livery

RAM Racing will return to the Gulf 12 Hours next month, fielding a single Mercedes-AMG GT3 that will again reimagine a classic racing livery for the modern age, as well as boasting an all-star driver line-up.

  The Silverstone-based squad will make its second start at the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi on December 11, having first contested the event back in January 2021.

  Crewing its Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Pro-Am class will be reigning British GT champion Ian Loggie, who was part of the RAM Racing crew that finished third overall in the 2021 event. He will share the car with British GT rival Morgan Tillbrook, who will swap his usual McLaren 720S GT3 for the controls of an AMG. This will be the second time Loggie and Tillbrook have raced together, as the pair shared a class podium in the last Gulf 12 Hours back in January.

  To form the Pro element of the squad, RAM Racing has recruited Mercedes-AMG ace Mikaël Grenier, who has competed for the brand in DTM this season. The 30-year-old Canadian has extensive experience of IndyCar and top-level GT racing, having finished second in the GTD class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona last season and been a champion in the Intercontinental GT Challenge. Grenier has raced with Loggie before, the pair sharing a car during this year’s Asian Le Mans Series.

  To complete the package, RAM’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 will also feature another iconic Mercedes livery of the past, this time reimagining the colours of the famous D2 mobile phone company for the modern age. The D2 design first appeared on the 1994 C-Class DTM racer, and has since been used on machinery such as the fire-breathing CLK GTR that competed in the FIA GT Championship during the GT1 era of the late 1990s, and the CLK DTM of the early 2000s.

  This design follows on from the classic Sonax livery that RAM Racing recreated for its last attack on the Gulf 12 Hours.

 Ian Loggie said: “I’m really excited to get going in the Gulf 12 Hours this year! It’s been a massively busy season for me, with British GT, GT Cup, GT World Challenge Europe, Radicals in the UAE and 24-hour races in Dubai and Portimão… so the Gulf 12 Hours should cap my year off nicely, and I certainly can’t complain about having too much racing! I’m excited to share the car with Morgan and Mik, too. I know Morgan well and we shared a Mercedes-AMG in the last Gulf 12 Hours back in January. We’ve been competitors all season in British GT, so I know exactly how quick he is, and I’m really looking forward to working with Mik again. I feel we’ve got a great chance of a Pro-Am win.”

 Morgan Tillbrook said: “I really enjoyed the Gulf 12 Hours last time, so when this chance came up to join RAM Racing I jumped at it! I’m really looking forward to experiencing working with the team, as I know they’re a top outfit, so I have zero doubts that we’ll have a competitive car under us. I get on really well with Ian, and we won the Pro-Am class together back in January, but obviously the last time I saw him we were rivals for the British GT title! I really enjoy working with different Pro drivers, so I’m hoping to learn a few things from driving with Mik. I also enjoy driving the Mercedes-AMG. Being front-engined it’s very different to the mid-engined McLaren I usually race. The AMG has very good traction out of slow corners and is strong in technical sections, which is what Abu Dhabi is all about. We’re definitely going in looking for that Pro-Am victory.”

 Mikaël Grenier added: “First of all, I’m really happy to be part of this RAM Racing team. It’s a team I’ve known for a long while but never raced with before, and Jules [Gounon, fellow Mercedes-AMG driver] has told me some great things about them, so I’m excited to see what we can do together. It will also be the first time I’ve raced with Morgan, but I know he and Ian are two of the best Am drivers in British GT, so I know we’ll be a competitive trio. The car itself also looks amazing. The D2 livery is such an iconic livery for Mercedes-AMG and for the DTM. It will be amazing to get to compete with it.”

  The Gulf 12 Hours event begins with testing and practice on Friday, December 9 before qualifying takes place on Saturday. The race itself will this year revert to being a traditional 12-hour race, as opposed to being split into two six-hour halves. It gets underway at 10:00 local time, 06:00GMT.