THREE CAR KTM EFFORT BATHURST 12 HOUR FOR M MOTORSPORT

Three car KTM effort for M Motorsport Bathurst 12 Hour campaign – Photo: Supplied

M MOTORSPORT has confirmed a three-car KTM attack on the GT4 class at the 2019 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

The biggest ever contingent of the unique X-Bow racers will add huge competition to the GT4 battle, with each car featuring a strong driving combination that should be capable of winning the class.

After finishing third in class this year, the Melbourne-based team is hoping to go two steps better at the January 31 – February 3 event next year.

The three car team is headlined by the M Motorsport / Equity One entry which features Dean Koutsoumidis, James Winslow and Jake Parsons sharing the driving duties.

Koutsoumidis has become one of the most experienced ‘Am’ drivers in GT3 competition in recent years, while regular co-driver Winslow is a former Australian F3 champion and remains one of the fastest drivers in LeMans Series and LMP3 competition throughout Europe and Asia. Parsons joins the squad having spent several years in the United States chasing the ‘Road to Indy’ program.

The M Motorsport / Vantage Freight entry includes David Crampton, Trent Harrison, KTM factory racer Caitlin Wood and Gold Star champion, Tim Macrow.

All four were part of the KTM squad last year.

The third KTM entry includes M Motorsport team owner Justin McMillan, Carrera Cup racer Glen Wood, Touring Car Masters race winner Dean Lillie and a yet-to-be-confirmed fourth driver.

McMillan and Koutsoumidis enter the event battle-hardened fresh from a competitive campaign the final four races of the Blancpain GT Asia series this year, where the X-Bow GT4 proved competitive against rivals from Mercedes-AMG and BMW.

“We’re looking forward to running three cars, it’s exciting,” M Motorsport’s Justin McMillan said.

“We’ve had to re-look at the way we’re doing things. We had a look at running four cars, but in the end we chose to concentrate on the three.

“We’re going to have some representation from Reiter Engineering (who build the KTM) there to help us, and Dean’s car is the latest, current-spec car and the one we ran in Blancpain Asia this year.

“I think it’s a great squad.”

After a challenging weekend on the Mountain in February this year, McMillan said the team was ready for a renewed attack in 2019.

“Glen and I, especially, have a lot of experience in the KTM now,” He said.

“I just hope the BoP (Balance of Performance) is on our side and if it is, I think we’ll go OK.

“It hurt us this year but the car was very competitive against the BMW and AMG in Blancpain Asia this year so we know it’s up for it – and it’s very quick across the top of the Mountain.

“It’s a good bunch of guys, good drivers and we’ll see if we can go well.”