Weight in numbers for Audi at Bathurst

EIGHT AUDI R8 LMS entries will tackle the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour this February, with the final pieces in their driving squad now confirmed.

Confirmation that Will Davison would join Audi Sport team WRT came on Saturday, while the all-Kiwi International Motorsport team has also locked in their strong team.

Richard Bagnell will be joined by former international open-wheel stars Johnny Reid and Matt Halliday in the New Zealand R8.

Canberra brothers James and Theo Koundouris will be joined by Ash Walsh and Duvashen Padayachee while Daniel Gaunt will join Ash Samadi in his entry, with Carrera Cup young star Dylan O'Keefe completing that trio.

Audi Sport customer racing continuing to strengthen its presence in international motor racing.

“While Motorsport in many series is still at rest at the beginning of the year our customers are already racing in several international events,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing.

Audi are one of only two brands to win multiple Bathurst 12 Hour races since it became a fixture on the international GT3 calendar, taking the 2011 and 2012 races with the first-generation Audi R8 LMS.

The brand has been a consistent performer on the Mountain and has had one car in the top five of the race every year bar one since their last victory.

Audi entries finished fourth in 2013 and fifth in 2014 before returning to the podium with a fighting second in 2015. They narrowly missed the podium the following year - finishing fourth - while a difficult campaign last year saw the best placed finisher from the brand in seventh.

Bathurst doubles as the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, in which Audi won both the drivers and manufacturers titles last year.

Driver line-ups

Valvoline Jamec Pem Racing Audi R8 LMSKelvin van der Linde/Garth Tander/Frédéric Vervisch (ZA/AUS/B)

Valvoline Jamec Pem Racing Audi R8 LMSChristopher Haase/Christopher Mies/Markus Winkelhock (D/D/D)

Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMSRobin Frijns/Stuart Leonard/Dries Vanthoor (NL/GB/B)

Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMSPaul Dalla Lana/Will Davison/Pedro Lamy/Mathias Lauda (CDN/AUS/P/A)

Supabarn Audi R8 LMSJames Koundouris/Theo Koundouris/Duvashen Padayachee/Ash Walsh (AUS/AUS/AUS/AUS)

Hallmarc Audi R8 LMSMarc Cini/Dean Fiore/Lee Holdsworth (AUS/AUS/AUS)

ASR Audi R8 LMSDaniel Gaunt/Ash Samadi/Dylan O'Keefe(NZ/AUS/AUS)

International Motorsport Audi R8 LMSRichard Bagnall/Matt Halliday/Jonny Reid (NZ/NZ/NZ)