Earlier this year, General Motors Australia and New Zealand announced plans to enter a Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Although a team was not linked to that announcement, Speedcafe understands Johor Motorsports Racing will facilitate that program.
The team is familiar with Australia, having been born out of the Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes-AMG GT3 program that began in GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS.
McLaughlin joined Malaysian the team at the Suzuka 1000km this year, and according to Sportcars365 was approached for next year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
“Unfortunately not,” said McLaughlin of contesting the GT-based Mount Panorama endurance race.
“Just the way that it worked out. I would love to, and probably had the opportunity to, but it’s just the way it’s sort of panned out with my calendar with testing in IndyCar, which is obviously first and foremost.
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“But I’m looking at a couple events throughout the year. I’d love to, but first and foremost, my IndyCar deal comes first. But JMR, they’re a class team and I’d love to do more racing with them.”
McLaughlin has not raced in Australia since his last start with DJR Team Penske in 2020.
The three-time Supercars champion has nine starts in the Bathurst 1000, but just two Bathurst 12 Hour campaigns to his name.
The first was in a Class B Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car with Grove Racing alongside Stephen Grove and Earl Bamber.
The other was with YNA Autosport. That was his only GT3 start, joining Fraser Ross, Alexander West, and Andrew Watson in a McLaren 650S.
Although the Bathurst 12 Hour is off the table for 2026, McLaughlin is optimistic there may be other opportunities during the Intercontinental GT Challenge season, like the Spa 24.
“It’s in a busy period. It just depends. But I’d love to try and do it,” he said of the 24-hour race, which falls in the week between IndyCar events.
“That’s definitely for me a bucket list race. Obviously Le Mans is a bucket list, all the [major] sports car races. I’m a racer. I just want to drive and be a part of it.”
McLaughlin will race with Team Penske in the 2026 IndyCar Series with Josef Newgarden and David Malukas.
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