James Brock will compete in a second Mercedes Benz SLS AMG for Erebus Racing in the 2012 Australian GT Championship.
Brock, who has competed in the Fujitsu V8 Series this year, will be support DrillPro in one of the rare German machines.
The deal was announced at today's launch of the Clipsal 500 at the Adelaide Oval.
After competing in selected rounds of the Development Series this year, Brock said it wetted his appetite to get back on the circuit for a full season of racing.
“Truth be known, a couple of years ago I was pretty burnt out and just needed a break from racing, but after DrillPro approached me about doing some V8 Supercar stuff this year, and then seeing where the GT Championship is headed, frankly it was an opportunity I simply couldn't pass up,” he said.
“Peter Hackett and Erebus Racing are the best in the business, and would have to be one of the most professional teams in any form of the sport here in Australia, so DrillPro and I can't wait to get started on the program.
“At this stage I haven't even driven the car, but if it goes anywhere near as good as it looks, 2012 is going to an awesome year.”
Lead Erebus DrillPro driver Peter Hackett was pleased to have Brock and DrillPro on board next year.
“The second Erebus Racing SLS AMG GT3 has been ordered and paid for and is now in the build stage over in Germany,” Hackett said.
“We are a long way down the track of our 2012 plans and James was the final piece in the puzzle and we couldn't be happier.
“James is no stranger to me or Mercedes having worked together for many years doing driver training, and also some special engineering projects for AMG, so in many ways he is a known quantity out of and inside the car, and that's what we were looking for in our second driver.”
The announcement was made in conjunction with the launch of the 2012 Clipsal 500 which will once again feature a one hour twilight GT race on Saturday evening, then a half hour race on the Sunday.
Also revealed to the public today was the new Ford GT of Supaloc Racing and its driver Kevin Weeks. CLICK HERE for Speedcafe.com's earlier story.
As well as the V8 Supercars, the weekends racing will feature a massive support category line up including the V8 Utes, Carrera Cup, Aussie Racing Cars, Formula 3 and the Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series.