Shane van Gisbergen and Jefri Ibrahim are set to take on the 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia in a Pro-Am class Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo as part of a partnership between Triple Eight Race Engineering and Johor Motorsports Racing.
Both teams and drivers have had GT3 racing experience in the past, having ran a GT World Challenge Asia program together just two years ago. A 2020 return to the Asian championship was confirmed, however, due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis those plans had to be shelved. The team last competed with GT3 machinery at last year’s Bathurst 12 Hour where they managed a third-place overall result with drivers Shane van Gisbergen, Jamie Whincup, and Maximilian Götz.
Van Gisbergen’s biggest season in GT3 yet came in 2016 when he won the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup and Bathurst 12 Hour with McLaren.
While Van Gisbergen has been announced as Ibrahim’s co-pilot, it is unclear who will replace him during the fifth round of the championship as the GTWC Australia round at The Bend Motorsport Park is set to act as a support event for the Supercars Championship, with the Kiwi driver set to focus on his Supercars commitments during that race weekend.
Round 1 of the Fanatec GTWC Australia championship is set to take place at Phillip Island on 20-21 February.
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