THE JET-BLACK McLaren 650S GT3 of Tony Walls will return to the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in 2018.
Objective Racing has confirmed another attack on the February event with the regular front-runners locking in another star driving squad in the process.
Joining Australian GT regular Walls will be four-time Bathurst 1000 podium finisher Warren Luff, Porsche Carrera Cup Australia young-gun Jaxon Evans and Freightliner Racing’s Virgin Australia Supercars Championship front-runner, Tim Slade.
The team is expected to be a B.R.M Chronographes Pro/Am class contender next February, following fast yet ultimately frustrating results in the last two 12-hour races.
The car was an early non-finisher in 2016 and faced a series of dramas throughout the 2017 race before ultimately being classified 20th.
McElrea Racing will continue to prepare and run the car, expected to form part of a multi-car attack fielded by the Queensland team.
Slade returns for his third Bathurst 12 Hour start with the team, having raced the McLaren at both the 2016 and 2017 events.
“It’s great to be heading back to Bathurst with Tony and the Objective Racing crew,” Slade said.
“Things haven’t gone to plan the last couple of years and we haven’t been able to get the kind of results we know we are capable of – but the car is fast and if things roll our way we know we will be competitive.
“Thanks to Tony for inviting me back. I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of those cars.”
Luff is one of the most broadly experienced drivers in the sport and scored a Bathurst 12 Hour podium in 2011, driving for Audi. Alongside his Supercars championship commitments, Luff has driven with Fraser Ross in a similar McLaren 650S in selected Endurance Championship rounds this year.
Evans is one of the hottest young talents in the one-make Porsche Carrera Cup, this year winning two rounds and five races en route to fifth in the overall championship in his debut season.
Walls’ is noted for giving young talent an opportunity to drive his car, having given a young Matt Campbell his first 12-hour start in a GT3 car in 2016.
The Queenslander promptly raised eyebrows in the paddock when he qualified the car third amongst the world-class GT field that year.
As well as his Carrera Cup success this year, Evans has impressed in the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship where he has raced an Audi R8 LMS with fellow Kiwi Tim Miles.
The pair won the opening two races at Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park, respectively, and last weekend finished second at Hampton Downs in New Zealand in the penultimate round.
