Shane van Gisbergen will race in this year’s Bathurst 6 Hour in April, driving a BMW M4 with Smollen Motorsports.
The New Zealander will be partnered with Shane Smollen and Rob Rubis for the production car endurance race that runs annually at the Mount Panorama circuit.
Smollen is a former Australian GT champion, taking the title in 2010 in a Porsche 911 GT3. He has also clocked over 100 starts in the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup championship, taking the Tag Heuer Challenge’ title for semi-professional competitors in 2015.
Rubis has made several starts in the six-hour race and in the Nurburgring 24 Hour and Bathurst 12 Hour.
Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, has had plenty of success at Bathurst, winning the 1000 km endurance race in the 2020 Supercars championship and the 12-hour in a McLaren GT3 in 2016.
Only Paul Morris has won the Bathurst 6 Hour, 12 Hour and 1000 endurance events.
The 2021 Bathurst 6 Hour grid is currently at 51, with 12 different manufacturers and over 20 different models confirmed.
“Excited to announce Shane Van Gisbergen will join myself and Rob Rubis at the Bathurst 6 hour this Easter in our freshly completed BMW M4,” Smollen wrote on social media.
“[We] would love to see Shane add the 6 hr to his Bathurst 1000 and 12 hour wins.”
Van Gisbergen will also race in a Triple Eight-prepped Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo the same weekend as part of the second round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia.
The 2021 Bathurst 6 Hour will be held over April 2-4.