IT was already a coup for Jamec-Pem Racing to secure six-times Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Lowndes to steer one of their Audi R8 LMS entries in the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour, but now they have further underlined their claims as one of the early favourites.

Not only will they have Lowndes’ services, but those of another V8 Supercars star and Great Race champion in Garth Tander.

The Melbourne Audi team confirmed via Facebook that Tander will join Lowndes and team owner/driver Steve McLaughlan in their number 75 Audi R8 at Mount Panorama next February.

The team has also confirmed rumours of an all-international second car, the number 74 entry to be steered by two-time Bathurst 12 Hour winner Christoper Mies, fellow German ace Christoper Haase and Italian young gun Marco Mapelli.

Tander is no stranger to GT3 competition, having raced Tony Quinn’s McLaren in two rounds of the Australian GT Championship at Phillip Island – winning the 101-lap race in 2014 and finishing second this year, ironically to an Audi driven by Mies.

He also won the 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour race, finished second in 2003 and, of course, has three victories to his credit in the Bathurst 1000 plus the 2007 V8 Supercars drivers’ championship. 

“It’s great, obviously we [myself and Craig] have raced against each other our whole careers, but we have never teamed up with each other before,” Tander told speedcafe.com.

“We are going there to win it. Steve [McLaughlan] has got a big investment in the race with two cars and there are some pretty good drivers in the other car, but with Craig’s and my experience at Bathurst, we certainly like to think we will be one of the contenders.

“For me it’s a great opportunity to race against world class GT3 drivers.”

The international side of the Jamec-Pem Bathurst garage will be similarly strong.

Haase, the 2009 FIA GT3 European Champion, made his Bathurst debut this year with Phoenix Racing and finished ninth in a car shared with former LeMans winner Stephane Ortelli and extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner.

Mies, also a factory Audi pilot, won the 2011 and 2012 Bathurst 12 Hour races for the works Audi squad before linking with Australian drivers Marc Cini and Mark Eddy for privateer campaigns in the following seasons. 

He currently leads the Australian GT championship for the Jamec-Pem Racing team with one round to go.

Italian Mapelli was also part of the Phoenix squad that finished second this year, sharing an Audi R8 with Laurens Vanthoor and Markus Winkelhock. Mapelli is familiar to Australian competition thanks also to a stint in Australian Formula 3 in 2007, where he finished in the top five in the championship standings with one race win.