Great Race winners bolster Audi squad's 12 Hour line-up
Luke Youlden, Geoffrey Slater join Audi squad for 12 Hour
Valmont Racing, Tigani Motorsport enter Audi R8
Youlden joins Marcel Zalloua, Sergio Pires and Brad Shiels
Valmont Racing and Tigani Motorsport have signalled their intentions with a bolstered driver line-up for the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour in 2024.
Regulars Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires will be joined in their Audi R8 this year by Bathurst 1000 winner Luke Youlden, as well as experienced local hero Brad Shiels.
After showing top 10 pace in practice and qualifying for last year's race, the team is looking to build upon that experience and ensure a strong result this year, both in class and outright.
Zalloua and Pires come off the back of a solid GT World Challenge Australia campaign in 2023, which resulted in four podiums from eight starts. They backed it up in New Zealand in November, completing the Highlands 6 Hour and the highest placed all Am driver line-up and sixth overall.
Youlden brings a wealth of experience to the squad with four Bathurst 12 Hour starts and 21 Bathurst 1000 starts, including winning the Great Race in 2017.
Bathurst local and Sports Sedan regular Shiels add further local experience to the line-up.
The driver line-up confirmation comes as the team reveals its new striking look for the 2024 edition of the race.
“First of all, another striking livery for the Valmont Racing entry. It looks sensational,” team owner Nathan Tigani said.
“And another solid driver line-up with Luke Youlden coming on board and Brad Shiels a local specialist around Bathurst.
“It’s exciting for Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires. They’ve got a good bit of experience now, coming back from Highlands, and they're seasoned campaigners, having been in GT racing for five years.
“It’ll be good for them the bounce off the knowledge of Luke and Brad and hopefully get a result. That’s the goal for this year. Especially for that car after the pace they showed in 2023.”
“Certainly a result in class, but a top ten outright would be even better.”
Tigani Motorsport has also bolstered its engineering line-up, with experienced Supercars engineer Geoff Slater joining the squad for the 12 Hour race.
“I think we’ve got a good addition with Geoff Slater onboard for the 12 Hour," Tigani added.
“He’s bringing all of his expertise and knowledge. He's got a lot he's very experienced, so it's good to piggy back off that for both of our entries.”
