The long-awaited race debut of Tony Quinn’s McLaren and the appearance of several V8 Supercar drivers are set to spice-up the final round of the Australian GT Championship.

Taking place at Quinn’s recently completed Highlands Motorsport Park near Queenstown, New Zealand, the event will mark the first time that the AGTC has held a round offshore.

Having largely sat dormant since it was imported to Australia, Quinn’s McLaren MP4-12C GT3 will be campaigned by Craig Baird and Neil Crompton.

Baird drove the car at Highlands’ official opening in March, lapping the 4.5km venue in 1:41.9s.

Other star Kiwis in the provisional 22 car field include Greg Murphy, who returns to the wheel of Jim Manolios’ Corvette, and Fabian Coulthard, who will pair with already-crowned champion Klark Quinn in his Porsche.

V8 Supercars endurance regulars Dale Wood (M Motorsport Lamborghini), Dean Canto (Taplin Ferrari) and Jack Perkins (Griffith Ginetta) further add to the formidable field.

Those yet to confirm driver line-ups include the Highlands circuit’s own Aston Martin and Mosler entries. The former car is expected to be fielded by Tasman Motorsport boss Steve Horne.

The round will be without Erebus Motorsport and its Mercedes-Benz SLS GT3 cars, which are currently in China ahead of a two-race GT Asia program.

The Highlands event will see the Australian GT cars compete in two standalone races across Friday and Saturday before joining a multi-category 101km finale on Sunday.

The South Island Endurance Series and new Toyota 86 Series will provide support action, while further entertainment will include demonstration runs from a Benetton-Ford Formula 1 car.

Recently purchased by Quinn, the ex-Michael Schumacher B191 will be steered by Australian Brett Francis across all three days of the November 8-10 meeting.

See below for the provisional Australian GT entry list

See below for video of Craig Baird driving the McLaren around Highlands in March