Kenny Habul, right, celebrates his win in the 2022 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour race.
When Bond University alumnus Kenny Habul raced to victory at the Mount Panorama racetrack last weekend he also scaled his personal Everest.
The renewable energy pioneer achieved a lifelong dream by winning the 2022 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on the weekend, driving the No.75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with co-drivers Jules Gounon, Luca Stolz and Martin Konrad.
The former Gold Coaster is CEO and President of SunEnergy1, based in the US, but long before his stellar business career began Mr Habul was a motor-racing fanatic.
He told a Bond Business Leaders Forum in 2018 that he idolised nine-time Bathurst 1000 winner Peter Brock.
“I grew up loving motor-racing and loving Brock and wanting to be a driver and I was fortunate to have a little bit of talent,” Mr Habul said.
“It was difficult to me because if you like tennis, you buy a tennis racquet and go and practice, but if you love motor-racing you need millions of dollars and it’s just a difficult, difficult sport for kids.
“Halfway through my degree I took a couple of semesters off, I moved to Melbourne and I worked with Peter Brock in ‘92 and that was a great experience for me.
“He was good to me and taught me a lot and was here (at Bond University) when I graduated.
“I chose business instead of motor-racing but I’m fortunate now to have one of the largest private companies in the world and I try to enjoy myself and go back to motor-racing.”
Mr Habul’s embrace of the Brock legend extends to ownership of one of the King of the Mountain’s most famous cars.
“In 1997 I was there (Bathurst) and Brock won,” Mr Habul said.
“The two Ford Sierras got disqualified and that VL Commodore became the winner, No. 10. And I’m lucky enough to have that car in my museum.
“That was a dream for me because I was there. My job was to clean the wheels.”
Mr Habul graduated from Bond University with a law degree in 1994 and is a strong supporter of his alma mater.
After a successful business career in Australia, he started SunEnergy1 in 2010, which he has grown to become one of the largest solar energy specialists in the US.
Mr Habul regularly consults with the US government and other counties including Australia on their energy needs, and is a guest lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston.