Shane van Gisbergen has officially joined the McLaren with the Kiwi V8 Supercar driver joining the McLaren GT factory driver linup for the 2015 season.
"Pretty amazing to be joining McLaren_GT as a factory driver this year. What an opportunity!!" Van Gisbergen tweeted.
The 25-year-old New Zealander joins Rob Bell, Kevin Estre, Alvaro Parente and Bruno Senna at the Woking-based manufacturer.
"It is great to have Shane on board for the 2015 season. Said McLaren GT Managing Director, Andrew Kirkaldy.
He showed some real talent when he raced the 12C GT3 in the Australian GT championship last year, and was the quickest man on track at Bathurst last year when I raced alongside him, and we narrowly missed out on a podium in one of the closest finishes in the race’s history. He has shown himself to be a great talent in Australia, and we are confident that he can recreate that success in Europe."
Sharing the same home town as the company’s founder, Bruce McLaren – who was born in Auckland – Van Gisbergen has made a name for himself with a string of strong results in a variety of different championships including D1NZ, NZ SuperTourers and was runner-up in the International V8 Supercar Championship in 2014.
Van Gisbergen has also shown himself to be one of the quickest GT endurance drivers, having contested the Daytona 24 Hour and, last season took part in two of the world’s most famous endurance events driving a McLaren 12C GT3; the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour and the Total Spa 24 hour. Shane’s racing plans will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The schedule for Van Gisbergen’s race plans with McLaren GT are yet to be announced but will incorporate his many other racing commitments.