Bathurst 6 Hour entrant McLennan Motorsport is pulling out all stops to win the classic production car race at Mount Panorama this weekend.
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The BMW M4 team has secured the services of Bathurst 1000 podium finisher David Russell as well as former Bathurst 6 Hour winner Shane Smollen to join young gun Tom McLennan in a crack three-driver line-up.
The team will be led by Aaron Reed, a former race-winning team manager at the 6 Hour.
Reed led Shane van Gisbergen and Smollen to victory at the event back in 2021.
In fact, the car that McLennan and his team will race at Bathurst this weekend is that very BMW that van Gisbergen raced to his 6 Hour win.
While the team is stacked with pedigree and talent, the squad is also bringing four racing 'rookies' to oversee and participate in its program this weekend.
As part of Hasting Deering's support, four staff members from the heavy machinery company have been awarded the chance to become part of the pit crew squad for the event.
In their regular day jobs, Aidan Rankin, Nathan McDonald, Mitch Claydon and Elizabeth Burrell are used to working on big Caterpillar construction and mining equipment, so you would think that helping to spanner and maintain the BMW M4 will be a walk in the park compared to their regular work on giant earth movers.
None of the four staff members have ever worked on a race car before, and Burrell, from Mackay in Queensland, says that it will be a huge learning curve at Australia's greatest race track.
"This is a great opportunity to be involved with a race team at a very prestigious event," she said.
"I don't have any motorsport experience, so I will be listening and learning as the weekend goes on. It's a fantastic opportunity for all of us to be involved.
"I do like motorsport. I watch a lot of TV and I obviously know a lot about cars, but this will certainly be a new challenge. I can't thank Hastings Deering and McLennan Motorsport enough for the opportunity."