Erebus Motorsport will mark their return to GT racing in February, announcing their involvement in the 2019 Bathurst 12-Hour.
Bathurst 1000 Champions David Reynolds and Luke Youlden will contest the PRO/AM class in a Mercedes AMG GT3, alongside Yasser Shahin in The Bend Motorsport Park entry.
Erebus Motorsport’s CEO Barry Ryan says he believes their experienced squad will be competitive in the endurance event. “The event holds a special place the hearts of our team, it was the stage of our first big victory and somewhere we never finished outside the top five,” Ryan said.
“We always go there with high expectations; we want to push for the PRO/AM victory but with the speed Yasser shows as an amateur driver, also give the outright victory a go.” Shahin’s consistent times at Bathurst in 2018 were faster than any other amateur, and after recent testing at Bathurst he is confident heading into next year’s event. “The team’s preparation for the test was second to none and I am incredibly excited to run in such a professional environment,” Shahin said.
The Melbourne-squad will run the car prepared by Scott Taylor Motorsport, a relationship that dates back to 2016 when they ran STM’s first GT3, rounding out the year with a win at the Highlands 101.
“Scott has built a fantastic team since he took over the running of his car in 2017 and when he asked for support to run The Bend’s car at next year’s 12-hour event it was an easy decision,” Ryan said.
Erebus secured the 2013 outright win and the Allen Simonsen Pole Position trophy in 2014 before their Supercars outfit took out the 1000-kilometre race in 2017.
“It’s great to be back at Bathurst with Luke and the team and even though it’s a different race and different car, we share great memories,” he said.
“Luke drives those cars very well and last year was one of the fastest in the Shootout. I’ve seen Yasser drive and he drives very well to so I’m looking forward to it.”
Youlden teamed up with Shahin for this year’s 12-Hour, as well as competing in selected rounds of the Australian GT Championship.
“I’m wrapped it’s worked out this way, having a previous relationship with Yasser, David and the team,” Youlden said.
“It gives me a huge amount of confidence and really good motivation to try win; we have all the ingredients, so I don’t think we could go into a 12-Hour more prepared.”
The team will test mid-January ahead of the endurance event, January 31 to February 3.
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