Youlden, who won the Great Race with Erebus Motorsport in 2017, will join Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires in their Audi R8 next month at Mount Panorama.

Completing the Silver class driving quartet is Bathurst local and Sports Sedan regular Brad Shiels.

In another coup for Valmont/Tigani, it has landed the services of Slater following his decision to leave the PremiAir Racing Supercars team.

He won both the 1000 and 12 Hour as Race Engineer for Tekno Autosports in 2016, the latter with a McLaren 650S.

“I think we’ve got a good addition with Geoff Slater onboard for the 12 Hour,” said team owner Nathan Tigani.

“He’s bringing all of his expertise and knowledge. He’s very experienced, so it’s good to piggyback off that for both of our entries.”

Youlden has 21 Bathurst 1000 starts under his belt and four in the Bathurst 12 Hour, mixing it with factory entries in 2018 despite driving an ageing Lamborghini that time around.

Zalloua and Pires, meanwhile, scored four podiums from eight starts in Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia in 2023 and finished highest of the all-Am driver line-ups in November’s Highlands 6 Hour.

“First of all, another striking livery for the Valmont Racing entry. It looks sensational,” said Tigani.

“And another solid driver line-up with Luke Youlden coming on board and Brad Shiels a local specialist around Bathurst.

“It’s exciting for Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires. They’ve got a good bit of experience now, coming back from Highlands, and they’re seasoned campaigners, having been in GT racing for five years.

“It’ll be good for them the bounce off the knowledge of Luke and Brad and hopefully get a result. That’s the goal for this year. Especially for that car after the pace they showed in 2023.

“Certainly, a result in class, but a top 10 outright would be even better.”

The 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour takes place on February 16-18.

PHOTOS: Valmont Racing/Tigani Motorsport Audi