Reigning champions Tekno Autosports has unveiled the driver line-ups for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour with Alvaro Parente the only surviving member of the winning crew from last year.

With Shane van Gisbergen moving to Scott Taylor’s AMG factory-supported Mercedes-Benz GT machine and team owner/driver Jono Webb standing aside, Parente will be joined by Rob Bell and Come Ledogar in the #1 McLaren 650S GT3.

Tekno’s Supercars star Will Davison will be in charge of the #59 McLaren alongside the experienced Jonny Kane and Ben Barnicoat.

Davison, who supplied Tekno with the second leg of a Bathurst double by winning the Supercheap Auto 1000 last year, will provide vital experience for Kane and Barnicoat who will be making their debut at the mountain circuit.

“With McLaren, we are definitely going to be contenders, so it’s a pretty exciting way to start the year,” Davison said.

“I’d love to test the car before but I did the race last year in the McLaren so it should come back to me relatively quickly,” Davison said, who was paired with Bell and Andrew Watson in the second Tekno machine which finished ninth in 2016.

“The cars are very different to Supercars but obviously the track knowledge is beneficial.

“I don’t have a huge amount of experience in GT cars but it should all even out with the other guys.

“It’s a very competitive field with the best GT drivers in the world and the best Supercar drivers so it ends up pretty even.

“The two guys in my car will be learning the circuit and I’ll be picking their brains on getting the most out of the car as well.”

BATHURST 12 HOUR ENTRY LIST

Class allocations between GT3 Pro / ProAm / AM are subject to change.