Though Schumacher is now familiar with the world of GT racing, he is aiming to mark the inaugural Bathurst International with his first outright win in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia series.

If he can do that, Schumacher will also likely clinch the endurance championship on offer in the series.

"Currently we're sitting second outright in the endurance championship only behind Triple Eight's Shane van Gisbergen and Prince Jefri Ibrahim," the Bathurst driver said.

"So our goal for the Bathurst International is to try and win, we're not aiming for anything less at that event than a race win and hopefully a championship win if we can put it in that position.

"We don't do this just for fun, we do it very competitively on a serious level and look, it doesn't matter who it is, if you're going to a race meeting with any other ambition than to win, you probably shouldn't be there."

The Bathurst International event, which runs from November 12-13 at Mount Panorama, is set to be one of the biggest weekends in the history of the already successful Schumacher Motorsport team.

Getting to share the seat of his Audi R8 with Slade in particular has Schumacher excited.

As well as his lengthy Supercars resume, Slade has plenty of experience racing GT machinery and has done it a number of times at Mount Panorama in the Bathurst 12 Hour.

"Well I've been fortunate to have worked with Tim for two years now, he's helped with my driving, you could say he's been a driver coach and we've become very good friends during that time," Schumacher said.

"I am excited, it's been a long time coming having us two drive together. Because we gel so well in a driver coach working relationship and as mates, we're going to no doubt perform well as a team when we're co-driving together."

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But it is not just Schumacher's friendship with Slade that saw the co-driver partnership sealed.

The Bathurst driver thinks he's the best man to help him win the three-hour enduro at the Mount which will complete the two-round endurance component of the GT World Challenge championship.

"In the GT series you could probably chose just about any Supercar driver you wanted to drive with you because they don't get a lot of time in a Supercar, they don't get a lot of practice days," Schumacher explained.

"So any time they get a chance to jump in a seat, especially cars as exotic as a GT3 car, they take up the offer.

"But my preference is to drive with Tim, primarily based off our long term friendship and also because I genuinely rate Tim as a GT driver. He drives for Hub Auto and he's driven not only in Australia, but throughout Asia and Europe.

"He used to drive for Erebus as well, his driving ability suits a GT car really well. He's a really mature, level-headed driver who has had plenty of experience. It's important for me as a team owner and the car owner to hand my seat over to someone I genuinely trust."

Having Slade share his seat is a big move for Schumacher, but it's not the only one. There is also the six-day upgrade process involving more than 100 components that is currently being completed on his car at the Melbourne Performance Centre.

"I am really, really thankful that Audi has taken us in as a satellite team to supervise the upgrades of our car and ensure they are installed to the document specification. Big shout out to those guys," he said.

"Basically everything changes on the car, the car effectively comes back as a brand new car, it gets taken literally down to a bare chassis.

"There are hundreds of new components, it's a very tedious job, gear box out, engine out, all panels off the car."

Schumacher experienced what driving the current spec Audi at Mount Panorama is like earlier this year when lining up for the Audi Factory team in the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Since then he's raced his own car in the Australian GT World Challenge. He's currently sitting in the lead of the trophy class, holding a 25-point advantage over his nearest rival.

With upgrades being made to his Audi, which was a 2016 spec car, he'll no longer be eligible to run in that trophy class. Still, having his car upgraded to the current Evo II specification is a move which excites Schumacher.

"The benefit of the upgrade is yes, it does make the car better all-round, it does provide the car with more engine torque, a better aerodynamic package and also a better suspension package as well," he said.

"It is much better than what our other car was and as someone who was able to drive the current specification car when I drove the 12 Hour for Audi, it is a much more compliant car to drive, particularly in fast-speed turns."

The three-hour enduro Schumacher will contest at the Bathurst International will commence at 10.40am on Sunday, November 13.

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