Method, owned by Mostert and run by Guy McEntyre, is set to field McLarens in the first season of the standalone Aussie GT series this year as part of a factory tie-up.

However it won’t just run McLarens, with Smollen’s GT4-spec Porsche to join the Method stable for the upcoming season.

“It’s exciting to be part of this exciting new chapter for Chaz and his partners,” said Smollen.

“The desire to constantly improve is a key motivator for me and the opportunity to work closely with Chaz and an exceptional engineering team was too good to pass up. It was a huge plus to also retain our championship-winning on-track support team from Autohaus Hamilton and of course Aaron Reed.

“I have immense respect for Chaz’s driving ability and positive attitude. He’s the type of team owner you don’t want to let down and I know there will be significant learning opportunities across the season.

“I have to be at my best to defend this title given the quality of drivers committed to the 2024 championship and beyond so we will be doing what it takes to nail the one per centers race by race.

“We are yet to confirm a co driver and that will be the final piece of the puzzle.”

Mostert welcomed Smollen to his team.

“I have seen Shane for a number of years around the race track racing in different categories,” he said.

“Shane’s passion and desire to win aligns with what we are trying to achieve at Method Motorsport. Having someone like Shane sign on with us is a dream come true.

“Shane is coming in to some continuity with the team from his championship last year with Method Motorsport team manager, Aaron Reed, which helped him on his path to victory last season.

“We are excited to be shortly announcing who will engineering Shane for the 2024 campaign. We can confirm that this person bears a resume to withhold and will bolster the ranks at Method Motorsport.”