The Queenslander will share a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Peter Hackett, with Triple Eight entering one car for the full championship in the Pro-Am class.
For both, it marks a return to the Banyo team.
Fraser won the 2022 Dunlop Super2 Series with Triple Eight, which also gave him his Bathurst 1000 debut in the Supercheap Auto car, when he and Craig Lowndes finished a record high eighth for a wildcard.
After a year at Tickford Racing, he has landed a co-drive with Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner in the R&J Batteries Camaro in this year’s Supercars enduros.
The 23-year-old’s only GT experience thus far is a GT4 cameo with Mark Griffith at Sandown in 2022, but he and Hackett will test at Queensland Raceway before Round 1 of the season at Phillip Island.
“It’s cool to team up again with Triple Eight,” said Fraser.
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“I won the Super2 title with them, coming back into a professional class, I’m really excited to get underway.
“I have never raced a GT3 car. The only time I have raced this style of car was a one-off race at Sandown in GT4, but we have a test day at Queensland Raceway beforehand, plus plenty of practice miles at Phillip Island leading into the event.
“Going to Phillip Island is going to give me the best grasp on how the cars react, trusting the aerodynamics, trusting the tyre. A Supercar has a fair bit of aero, but a GT3 car has even more, so I will need to learn as I go.
“Triple Eight has such a plethora of information and data with these cars, and Peter Hackett has raced them so many times. I’m really going to lean on his experience to understand how the cars work.
“We’ve assembled an amazing combination for this entry – drivers, team and car. Pete has done so much, and so has the team. I’m really confident that we are going to have a good result.
“The GT class looks very strong, too. Every day it surprises me – new big names being announced – a few GT experts and Supercars drivers.
“It’s going to showcase the skills everyone has, the variety in the brands of cars, and that’s exactly what GT racing is about.”
While Fraser is a GT3 rookie, Hackett is an old hand in the discipline.
He won the 2017 Australian GT Championship with Dominic Storey and finished on the podium in his class at the 2012 Bathurst 12 Hour.
Nowadays, Hackett conducts the on-track experiences for Mercedes-Benz and AMG in South East Asia, but drove for Triple Eight as recently as 2021 at Mount Panorama when he partnered Prince Jefri Ibrahim.
“It’s super exciting for me,” he said.
“I’ve been in this championship in various guises over the years, but not since I won with Dom in 2017 and it’s a title that I’d love to win again.
“I’m honoured to be part of Triple Eight again. I know how much they want to win and I’m keen to be part of its assault on the title.
“GT racing has been growing in Australia for a long time. It has been through a number of phases, but it’s a spectacle that drivers and sponsors want to be a part of.
“With top line Supercars drivers and internationals taking part, these are the type of drivers and teams that should be in this class.
“And with the BOP that the class has, it gives everyone an equal chance to win.
“We know that Declan is fast. Anyone who drives a race car as well as he does can get the job done in GT cars.
“I’m looking forward to helping him out as he gets used to the class, but I’m under no illusions that he is the Gold-rated driver and I’m the Bronze. My job is to bring the car home safe for him.
“It’s really cool that guys like Declan want to be in GT World Challenge too. It says a lot for the championship as it moves forward.”
This season marks the fourth that Triple Eight has competed in GT World Challenge Australia, matching SRO’s ownership (in part and now in full) of Australian GT.
Along with its local GT3 programme, it is also entering selected rounds of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, including the iconic 24 Hours of Spa and also the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
That effort will feature a driver line-up of Ibrahim, Jordan Love, and Luca Stolz, with Broc Feeney having turned down the chance to participate in order to focus on Supercars.
Round 1 of GT World Challenge Australia takes place at Phillip Island on April 12-14, while Triple Eight will launch its Supercheap Auto wildcard campaign that Friday night in Melbourne.
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