Team NZ locks in Aston Martin GT4 entry

NEW ZEALAND’S strong history of success at Mount Panorama will continue to be well represented in the 2026 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

Team NZ has confirmed their entry of an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the event for the first time and are the first entry in the GT4 category for 2026.

Based in Asia, Team NZ was founded in 2012 by Graeme Dowsett and Earl Bamber as a karting team, before moving into cars in 2014.

The team currently competes in the Thailand Super Series and in key endurance races across Asia, where they’ve claimed class victories in the Sepang 12 Hour and two championship wins in the Asian Le Mans Series Sprint Cup in 2016-2018.

Dowsett will be joined behind the wheel by Frenchman Romain Leroux – an Aston Martin factory-supported junior driver – and Kiwi champion, Chris van der Drift.

The team will again be supported by Earl Bamber Motorsport at the February 13-15 event.

The race will be the first Bathurst 12-Hour starts for Dowsett and Leroux, while van der Drift has four prior 12-Hour starts which include a runner-up finish in Class B in 2019, driving a Porsche GT3 Cup Car for Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

The experienced Kiwi is a three-time Carrera Cup Asia champion and started the Repco Bathurst 1000 in 2016.

Dowsett will make his Bathurst 12hr Hour racing debut this year, having competed in the Bathurst 6 hour in 2019 - though was originally slated to drive in 2016's 12-Hour enduro.

Team NZ started the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour with a Porsche GT3 Cup Car driven by John Curran, Nick Foster and Craig Smith and finished 20th outright and third in Class B.

23-year-old Leroux has built a strong CV in top-flight GT and endurance racing including recent campaigns in the GT World Challenge Europe Silver Cup, Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT4 series in Europe.

Leroux won the IGTC 24hr of Spa in Silver Class in a GT3 Aston Martin 2025.