Shane van Gisbergen features in the 21-car field which will tackle next weekend’s Australian Endurance Championship opener at The Bend in a two-part race.
The 68-lap race will be split across Saturday twilight and Sunday morning at Australia’s newest permanent circuit.
The starting grid will be set on the basis of average times for each car’s two drivers before the first 24 laps of the race take place from late Saturday afternoon.
On the following morning, the race picks up where it left off the evening before with the final 44 laps.
The program makes for a total of nearly 530km of racing around the 7.77km GT Circuit layout.
Among the 21-car field are 16 GT3 cars and the five previously announced GT4s.
Van Gisbergen partners Tony Quinn in a McLaren 650S as one of several current or former Supercars Championship drivers.
David Reynolds confirmed this week that he will tackle all three AEC races of the Australian GT season with current championship leader Jaie Robson, while Cameron McConville’s return in a Lamborghini will also take place at The Bend.
John Bowe is back behind the wheel of a Ferrari at Maranello Motorsport, while Tony D’Alberto, Warren Luff, Dean Canto, Steve Richards, and Craig Baird are also in familiar environments.
Action begins with Practice on Friday April 13.
Entry list: Australian Endurance Championship Round 1 (Australian GT Championship Round 2), The Bend Motorsport Park Updated
| Num | Team/Sponsor | Drivers | Car | Class |
| 1 | Valvoline | Geoff Emery Garth Tander |
Audi R8 LMS | Championship |
| 3 | Ah Apartments | Ash Samadi Dylan O’Keeffe |
Audi R8 LMS | Championship |
| 4 | BP Ultimate | TBA TBA |
BMW M4 GT4 | GT4 |
| 6 | Timken Zagame Motorsport | Adrian Deitz Cameron McConville |
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | Championship |
| 7 | Mariani Beef Jerky | Tony Quinn Shane van Gisbergen |
Mclaren 650S GT3 | Championship |
| 8 | WM Waste Management | Max Twigg Tony D’Alberto |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Championship |
| 11 | Objective Racing | Tony Walls Warren Luff |
McLaren 650S GT3 | Championship |
| 19 | Hogs Breath Café / Griffith Corporation | Mark Griffith Todd O’Brien |
Ginetta GT4 | GT4 |
| 24 | KFC/Ctech Laser/Moveitnet/B&B | Tony Bates Daniel Gaunt |
Audi R8 LMS | Championship |
| 29 | Haemokinesis / Trofeo Estate / FreeM | Jim Manolios Dean Canto |
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | Championship |
| 48 | Interlloy / M Motorsport | Justin McMillan Glenn Wood |
Reiter KTM X-Bow | GT4 |
| 50 | Interlloy / M Motorsport | David Crampton Trent Harrison |
Reiter KTM X-Bow | GT4 |
| 59 | Total Oil / Opti-Coat / Logitech | Fraser Ross Duvashen Padayachee |
McLaren 650S GT3 | Championship |
| 63 | Eggleston Motorsport | Peter Hackett Jake Fouracre |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Championship |
| 67 | JMG / Bilstein | Jeremy Gray Andrew Miedecke |
Aston Martin Vantage GT4 | GT4 |
| 88 | Maranello Motorsport | Peter Edwards John Bowe |
Ferrari 488 GT3 | Championship |
| 98 | Aussie Driver Search | Jaie Robson David Reynolds |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Championship |
| 100 | BMW Team SRM | Steve Richards Michael Almond |
BMW M6 GT3 | Championship |
| 222 | Scott Taylor Motorsport | Scott Taylor Craig Baird |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Championship |
| 777 | The Bend Motor Sport Park | Yasser Shahin Luke Youlden |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Championship |
| 911 | Walkinshaw GT3 | Liam Talbot John Martin |
Porsche 911 GT3-R | Championship |
Schedule: Australian Endurance Championship Round 1 (Australian GT Championship Round 2)
| Time | Session | Length/Distance |
| Friday April 13 | ||
| 1535 | Practice | 60mins |
| Saturday April 14 | ||
| 1230 | Driver A Qualifying | 30mins |
| 1315 | Driver B Qualifying | 30mins |
| 1700 | Race Part 1 | 24 laps |
| Sunday April 15 | ||
| 1040 | Race Part 2 | 44 laps |
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