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Paffett joins Mercedes GT3 assault on Intercontinental GT Challenge

Reigning DTM champion and HWA Formula E driver Gary Paffett will be part of the Mercedes assault on this year's Intercontinental GT Challenge

Paffett, who has previous experience of Merc GT3 machinery from the Spa 24 Hours in 2016 (below) and '18, has been named by the German manufacturer as one of nine full-time drivers for the five-round IGTC.

The series kicks of next month with the Bathurst 12 Hours.

Paffett joins reigning IGTC drivers' champion Tristan Vautier, Raffaele Marciello, Maro Engel, Maximilian Gotz, Yelmer Buurman, Maximilian Buhk, Thomas Jager and Luca Stolz in the line-up.

They will be placed with teams running the Mercedes AMG-GT3 at each of round of the championship, which includes the Spa 24 Hours Blancpain GT Series round in July and the revived Kyalami 9 Hours in South Africa in November.

Mercedes-AMG customer racing boss Stefan Wendl said: "Repeating our achievements from 2018 will not be easy, but we will do our utmost.

"We have put together a super-strong driver line-up and numerically, we have the biggest presence in the GT3 field for the Bathurst season opener."

Paffett, 37, will contest the Bathurst fixture on February 3 alongside Engel and Stolz in AMG-GT3 run by Craft-Bamboo, which announced it was ending its relationship with Porsche to link up with Mercedes in December.

Marciello will drive a GruppeM car together with Buhk and Gotz in the other Mercedes line-up running all factory drivers.

Vautier and Jager will share a SunEnergy1 entry together with Kenny Habul, who won the bronze category IGTC title last year.

Buurman will race for Black Falcon alongside Christina Nielsen and Mark Griffith.

There are two other Mercedes on the entry list.

Australian Supercars squad Triple Eight has linked up with Scott Taylor Motorsport to field a car for Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen, who between them have 15 Bathurst victories across the 1000-mile touring car race and the 12 Hours.

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