Dunlop Series regular Shae Davies will join the Supabarn Supermarkets squad as a late replacement for Andre Heimgartner at this weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

Davies will team up with Canberra brothers James and Theo Koundouris and Marcus Marshall in the Melbourne Performance Centre prepared Audi R8 for the Mount Panorama classic.

New Zealander Heimgartner had originally been confirmed in the drive but has withdrawn from the event amid a switch to Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport’s V8 Supercars squad.

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Having contested the Dunlop Series and Porsche Carrera Cup, the Gold Coast based Davies made his GT debut last year with appearances in the Australian GT Championship for Erebus Motorsport.

“To say I am excited would be the understatement of the year and I am so thankful to all concerned for this incredible opportunity,” said Davies.

“I have been wanting to do the Bathurst 12 hour for a long while and to finally get the chance with the MPC team, and in a current spec Audi R8, is just awesome.

“There will be a few sleep deprived nights before I get to Bathurst and I can’t wait to get stuck into it.”

The team has unveiled a striking blue and black livery for its 2015 specification Audi R8,  which will now adopt #40, courtesy of a sponsorship arrangement with surveying company Handley Surveys.

“We are delighted to have Handley Surveys come on board as major backer of the #40 entry,” said Melbourne Performance Centre Team Principal Troy Russell.

“We would also like to welcome Shae to the team and the Audi Sport customer racing program in Australia and along with the Koundouris brothers and Marcus we have a great combination to be in with a chance of being on the podium come Sunday night.

“As with all endurance races you need to be there at the end with the highest ranked drivers in the car. The key is to be on the lead lap at the 10 hour mark and from there anything can happen.

“The new Audi R8 LMS has already left its mark in endurance racing all over the world and with the extremely high calibre of the drivers in our team this weekend I am sure we can fast track Shae’s learning of the new car, which he won’t have even sat in until he arrives at Bathurst on Wednesday.”