Swiss outfit R-Motorsport has confirmed that five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon will join the team to make his debut at the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-hour race, which will mark the beginning of the 2020 Intercontinental GT Challenge in February.
Dixon is no stranger to GT racing after running the Ford GT in the World Endurance Championship and WeatherTech IMSA series with his long-time team boss, Chip Ganassi.
During his time in the programme, he took wins at the Rolex Daytona 24hr race in 2015 and 2018, plus a podium finish at the Le Mans 24hr in 2016.
Despite his experience, this will mark his debut in GT3 machinery.
The Kiwi will link up with the team’s Blancpain GT Endurance Series and DTM driver Jake Dennis as well as 2006 V8 Supercars champion Rick Kelly.
The trio will be running an Aston Martin GT3 Vantage with a bright Castrol livery. Kelly has vast experience at the Mount Panorama circuit during his time racing in the Supercars series with two wins in the series most famous race, the Bathurst 1000.
“I have never raced at Bathurst before, but I’ve watched races at the Mount Panorama Circuit back when I was a teenager,” Dixon said.
“What I like most about the circuit is the high commitment, especially across the top, the high-speed passages and then down the chase and all the way to the last corner. It’s much like a street course with the concrete walls and the very confined spots. You need an extremely good flow.
“I’ve done GT racing as such with the four Le Mans 24 hours races and other endurance events, but never GT3. I love doing the long-distance races.
“It complements quite well with the IndyCar series at the moment to do Daytona 24h and Sebring 12h, but also Petit Le Mans, which was the first endurance race I did back in 1999.”
