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
| VIP Petfoods | Porsche | Klark Quinn | Fabian Coulthard |
| Darrrel Lee | Aston Martin | Tony Quinn | TBA |
| Maranello | Ferrari 458 | Peter Edwards | John Bowe |
| Taplin Real Estate | Ferrari 458 | Andrew Taplin | Dean Canto |
| Trofeo Motorsport | Corvette | Jim Manolios | Greg Murphy |
| M Motorsport | Lamborghini LP600 | Justin McMillan | Dale Wood |
| One World Bar | Audi R8 LMS Ultra | Rod Salmon | TBA |
| Highland Park | McLaren | Craig Baird | Neil Crompton |
| Equity-One Mortgage Fund | Audi R8 LMS | Dean Koutsoumdis | Andrew McInnes |
| Imak International | Porsche 997 Cup S | Andrew McPherson | Ben Porter |
| Rentcorp | Porsche 997 Cup | Indiran Padayachee | Aaron Zerefos |
| Brendon Cook | Porsche 997 Cup | Brendon Cook | Matt Kingsley |
| Motor School | Porsche 996 Cup | George Foessel | Ben Foessel. |
| Michael Hovey | Ginetta G50 GT4 | Michael Hovey | |
| TM Motorsport | Ginetta G50 GT4 | Tony Martin | Michael Hovey |
| Vawdrey Semi Trailers | Ginetta G50 GT4 | Mark Griffith | Jack Perkins. |
| Jan Jindassa | Lamborghini Gallardo | Jan Jindassa | |
| Steve McLaughlan | Dodge Viper | Steve McLaughlan | Greg Crick |
| Leonard Zeitouni | Ferrari 458 Challenge | Leonard Zeitouni | Renato Loberto |
| Zavier West | Porsche 997 Cup | Xavier West | TBA |
| Highland Park | Mosler MT900 | TBA | TBA |
| Highland Park | Aston Martin | TBA | TBA |
See below for video of Craig Baird driving the McLaren around Highlands in March
