McLaren Blancpain GT Series driver Andrew Watson will join Warren Luff and Tony Walls in the latter’s Objective Racing 650S in next year’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
Objective has revamped its driving crew as a result of Jaxon Evans’ Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme Shootout win, which ties him to the German marque, and Tim Slade’s move to drive for his Blancpain GT Series Asia team, HubAuto Corsa.
Luff has been a fixture in the team’s Bathurst 12 Hour squad since its first in 2016, while Watson will be making his third start in the Mount Panorama race, all in McLarens, after driving one of the YNA Autosport cars in 2018.
They will compete in the Pro-Am class with Luff currently ranked by the FIA as Gold, Watson as Silver, and Walls as Bronze.
“We’ll be running myself, Luffy and Andrew Watson next year,” said Walls.
“He’s run there the last few years and did a good job last year in particular. He’s driven the McLaren all year in Blancpain with Garage 59 so he knows the car well.
“Jaxon is a Porsche driver now, which is fantastic, and Tim told me a while back that he’d like to do the race with the team he races in Asia which is absolutely fine.
“We wanted to find someone experienced and Andrew has the miles in the car and at the track.
“In the end I’ll have to do a bit more work in the race (with three instead of four drivers) but I’m really happy with the plans we have for the race.”
Northern Irishman Watson raced in both a McLaren and BMW M6 GT3 during this year’s Blancpain GT Series.
The 23-year-old finished 11th outright and fifth in Pro-Am class in the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hour driving with Scott McLaughlin, Fraser Ross, and Alexander West.
In 2016, the Tekno Autosports entry he shared with Will Davison and Rob Bell finished ninth outright.
Objective recorded a DNF this year after a starter motor failure at its final pit stop.
Luff, meanwhile, recently confirmed that he will return to the Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup next year.
The 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour takes place from January 31-February 3.
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